


Elemental

by hansbbrenton



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: AtLA AU, Everyone Is Gay, M/M, bender au, not tagging all relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 94,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25188613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hansbbrenton/pseuds/hansbbrenton
Summary: In a world where 4 kingdoms are ruled by element benders, 13 boys have lived relatively normal lives within their own ranks. But when one boy decides things need to change, the 4 kingdoms must learn to swallow their pride to keep the world from falling apart.
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan/Chwe Hansol | Vernon, Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan, Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 51
Kudos: 124





	1. Ch. 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rework of an older fanfic I publish on a different site, but I started re watching Avatar and I wanted to continue this. A lot of the lore is based on that universe, but I'm not putting an avatar in this. I never finished it on the other site, but the chapters I did have are being redone and posted first (probably one a week, we'll see).

_ Four kingdoms, ruled by the four elements, have lived in harmony for years. The ruling elements are earth, fire, water and air. The people who control these elements are called “benders” and are treated with some amount of respect in every kingdom. In each kingdom, there is a ruling family in which each member is a bender with incredible power; they have access to the best trainers in the kingdom. Each of these kingdoms was blessed with a prince to take control once their father passed into the next life.  _

_ The Earth kingdom’s prince is soft spoken, sharp-tongued and not easily intimidated, he is called Xu Minghao, or simply by Minghao by all those close to him. He is always closely accompanied by his guard, Choi Seungcheol; Minghao personally selected Seungcheol after hearing that this guard could lose his place after being discovered having a relationship with a commoner, Minghao didn’t want to see such a strong bender lose his opportunities simply because he fell in love. Wherever these two are, it can be expected to find Kwon Soonyoung, the son of the war chief, as well as Lee Jihoon, the son of the kingdom’s treasurer accompanying them. They are Minghao’s closest friends in the Earth kingdom. _

_ The Fire kingdom’s prince is stubborn and tight-lipped, yet often talks back to those closest to him in age, he is called Kim Mingyu. No one has ever seen Mingyu without Vernon Chwe walking in stride by his side, and for years many thought them to be siblings. Vernon is simply the son of the kingdom’s prison warden, and while they are very rich, the warden is not a very esteemed position in the kingdom, but Vernon and Mingyu became friends nonetheless. Mingyu’s personal guard is Jeon Wonwoo, chosen because he was the top trainee and defeated all of his classmates during testing.  _

_ The citizens of the Fire and Earth kingdom can always count on large festivities whenever the other kingdom stops by for a visit as the two kingdoms are extremely close.  _

_ The Water kingdom’s prince is willful and always ready to have a good laugh, he is called Yoon Jeonghan. He is good friends with an overly-dramatic boy named Boo Seungkwan, the son of the kingdom’s main healer. To citizens of the Earth and Fire kingdom, these two boys are considered extremely effeminate, however to citizens of the Water kingdoms, the way they look and act is common. Men of the kingdom were encouraged to grow their hair out, show their emotions freely, and master things most would say only women should know. The two tend to get into a lot of trouble together but never anything serious, their main crime is causing Jeonghan’s guard to slip on some unexpected ice. In the Water kingdom, the king chooses the guard for his children so Jeonghan has no close relationship with his guard, and truthfully he barely remembers their name most of the time. Aside from Seungkwan, his other close relationstionship, much to all citizens involved enjoyment, is a committed, romantic relationship with Joshua Hong, the prince of the Air kingdom. _

_ Joshua is a kind hearted and responsible person. While he is extroverted and makes friends easily, he usually prefers just the company of Wen Junhui, the son of the kingdom’s tailor. The two first met when they were 7 years old, and Joshua was throwing a tantrum at the tailor’s because he was hungry and tired. Junhui, who had been hiding behind his mother’s skirt the entire time, came over to the crying Joshua and offered him some candy. Joshua remembers that event very well, often reminding Junhui of it. Joshua never has the same guard following him, his grandfather had made a rule that guards must rotate protection every so often so each could gain experience and this proved to be of good use, but it confused Joshua so much because he wanted to know each of their names but found it hard to remember them. _

_ While benders tend to hold the highest positions, not everyone is blessed with the ability to bend; there are two boys that most would find fairly insignificant, however, they play an important part in each of the kingdom’s fate. _

_ The first is a boy named Lee Chan who resides in the Earth kingdom. He has lived his life never worrying about not being able to bend, and has trusted the rule of the Xu family; so far, he has not been let down. His parents own a small fruit and vegetable store, which is often visited by Minghao and his friends. A lot of the time, they make a mess of things but they still buy a basket full of things and always pay a little extra, never asking for change in return. Chan has never once had resentful feelings toward the prince and his friends, or towards benders in general. _

_ The second boy is named Lee Seokmin and he lives in the Water kingdom. He grew up never having a problem with not having the ability, but sitting by and watching many waterbenders take advantage of those without bending started to greatly affect him. When he was younger, he thought the prince would surely stop these kinds of things from happening, but he quickly realized that the prince would not, all Jeonghan did was stand by and laugh. When he was old enough, he and a few friends created a secret group called “Purple Lightning,” together they would wear masks and go after any bender causing harm to a non-bender and once they were finished with their revenge, they would paint a purple lightning bolt on the nearest building. The police never bothered going after the group, figuring they were too small to worry about, but Seokmin had bigger plans for the Purple Lightning.  _

_ While there may be peace between the kingdoms, the opposites have a tendency to not get along. The Water and Fire kingdoms have always had a strained relationship, as their bending abilities were literally night and day, as in the firebenders pulled energy from the sun and the waterbenders from the moon. The same could be said of the Earth and Air kingdoms, but they drew their energy from the very things they could bend. Since the Earth and Fire kingdoms were close, neither got along with the Water and Air kingdoms, and vise versa. They tried to get along to the public eye but even the kingdom’s citizens knew who their royalty didn’t like. The kings and queens did a better job of getting along than their children. _

_ This story starts in the courtyard of the Fire kingdom, where Mingyu and Wonwoo are practicing their skills as Vernon watches… _

“I just don’t understand,” Mingyu stated as he ducked away from an intense blast, “why do  _ all _ of the kingdoms have to come  _ here _ ?”

Vernon sighed, “I don’t know, I didn’t hear the entire conversation, just that small bit in passing. I mean, for me, I’d be okay with just the Earth kingdom stopping by for a long meeting, but those damn guppies and pigeons as well? How annoying…”

Wonwoo and Mingyu laughed at Vernon’s comment without breaking their concentration.

“Better not let the king hear you saying those things Vernon,” Wonwoo said, “remember what happened the last time?” 

“Yea, yea, we got a big lecture on how those words are mean and how we shouldn’t use them any more, I get it.” Vernon replied, waving the comment off and resting back onto his hand. “I just don’t understand what the big deal is, I mean, they’re just words after all.”

“And what big deal are you referring to this time, Vernon?” A woman’s voice suddenly asked from behind.

Vernon jumped up and turned, “O-oh it’s nothing, your Majesty, we were just talking.”

Mingyu’s mother nodded and smiled softly, “I see, then you wouldn’t mind if I told the three of you to go get ready before the guests arrive. They should begin arriving here shortly.” 

The three of them nodded, bowed and turned to leave in their respective ways. Mingyu tried to rush by his mother but she grasped his arm before he could walk by her.

“You would do well to tell your friends to stop referring to the Water and Air kingdoms by those terms.” She whispered sharply.

Mingyu nodded, “Alright, okay okay, I get it. Can I go get dressed now?”

His mother laughed lightly, “Alright, I did have the servants lay out your best clothes so changing will be quick. Once done please come straight to the entrance hall, your father wants you present when the guests arrive.”

Mingyu rolled his eyes, “Alright mom.”

She finally let go of his arm and he rushed into the palace and into his room, where his personal servants were waiting to dress him. He hated when he had to wear his best clothes, since they were rarely worn, they were stiff and hard to move around in, whenever he had them on he couldn’t wait to take them off. 

After being forcibly dressed, he stepped out of his room to meet Wonwoo. His guard didn’t have to do much changing, but an additional few ceremonial pieces with the kingdom’s insignia were added. Mingyu reached over and slightly adjusted Wonwoo’s shoulder piece to make it align with the other. Wonwoo thanked him wordlessly, and cocked his head to signal that they should get going. Mingyu turned and tightened his mouth into a thin line, he was hoping for some sort of reaction from his guard but got nothing; no visible reaction at least.

They walked to the entrance hall and waited. Mingyu tugged on his clothes, his back already feeling sticky from the training but an added layer of sticky from the clothes hugging him tightly. Wonwoo tried to keep his eyes straight ahead, but with every movement Mingyu made he would glance over.

“Try to stay still,” Wonwoo commented finally.

Mingyu grunted, “This shirt is uncomfortable.”

Before a response could be made, Mingyu’s father came into the hall, his cape flowing behind him as he walked. His mother was holding her husband’s arm as they walked. They stopped in front of Mingyu, his mother making adjustments to his clothes. Mingyu was told to wait where he was, and to direct the other princes to the room where they would all be gathered. 

The king and queen left, and once their backs were to him, Mingyu slouched again. Wonwoo smiled slightly.

“You don’t seem excited.” Wonwoo said.

Mingyu turned his head, “I really hate these gatherings.”

“At least it’s here this time.”

“I guess that makes it slightly better, but location doesn’t matter. It’s the customs and the  _ people  _ I have the problem with.”

“It’s only a few days, you’ll manage. You always do.”

Mingyu wanted to say something about them being together helps, but the doors to the hall swung open and it was announced that the royal family from the Earth kingdom had arrived.

Mingyu and Wonwoo looked at each other excitedly, Minghao and his guard Seungcheol had arrived first. Behind the announcer, came Minghao, blinking hard so his eyes would adjust to the darkness of the hall. As soon as he could see, his eyes found Mingyu and both boys broke into huge grins as they greeted each other. Seungcheol, following closely behind Minghao, nodded to Wonwoo in greeting, they would have time to catch up later. The two princes were talking and laughing loudly together when they were told the Water kingdom had arrived.

Mingyu rolled his eyes,  _ here comes the guppie,  _ he thought bitterly.

Wonwoo elbowed Mingyu in the side sharply, reminding him to be polite and stand up straight. The long-haired Jeonghan strolled in, moving slowly. Mingyu cleared his throat and smiled slightly at Minghao before extending his hand to Jeonghan, “Welcome to the Fire Kingdom.”

Jeonghan barely gripped Mingyu’s hand before snatching it away again, “Pleasure.”

Mingyu almost snapped but Minghao subtly grabbed the back of Mingyu’s tunic to hold him in place, they may not like the Water kingdom but they had to at least be nice for a few days. 

Minghao leaned over to Mingyu, “Just remember that Jeonghan and Joshua are dating so Joshua may just ignore you at first, don’t get mad if he does.” 

“Wouldn’t you be mad?” Mingyu whispered back.

“Of course, but he’s your guest,” and even softer, “unfortunately.”

Mingyu and Minghao continued to whisper to each other while Jeonghan stood by himself, looking around the hall. He did appreciate the art, but would never admit that to someone from the Fire kingdom.

The doors suddenly opened with a literal breeze and Joshua flew in, his shirt billowing in the slight breeze, before it could even be announced that he and his family had arrived. One could actually hear Minghao roll his eyes at the sight. Much to both of their surprise, Joshua stepped over to Mingyu and extended his hand, Mingyu took it, “Welcome to the Fire kingdom.”

“Thank you, nice to finally set foot here.” Joshua replied, his tone a weird mix of things that made it hard to decide if he was actually glad to be there or not.

No words were exchanged, but Minghao and Joshua gave each other sharp looks as the airbender walked by to be next to Jeonghan. It was going to be a very long couple of days.

Mingyu cleared his throat, “Since we’re all here then I guess we can go to our sitting room for a while, it’s this way.” Mingyu turned on his heels and started walking, Minghao following closely beside him, Wonwoo and Seungcheol behind them, and followed by the other two princes.

“Is Soonyoung going to come too?” Mingyu asked Minghao.

Minghao nodded quickly, “Yeah, but he won’t be arriving until later tonight, he told me that his family had some matters to attend to at home first.”

Mingyu nudged his friend slightly, “How are you two doing?”

Minghao’s face turned red, “I d-don’t understand what you mean, w-we’re just good friends.”

“Oh come on! It’s so obvious, especially now that you’re acting like that!” Mingyu laughed loudly which made Minghao’s blush deepen, even his ears were red now.

Seungcheol and Wonwoo were walking behind them, and happened to overhear their comments. Seungcheol tried to hide his smile, but Wonwoo noticed his expression and nudged him slightly. He mouthed “what” to the other, but Seungcheol waved his hand and mouthed “maybe later.”

When they reached the sitting room, Mingyu stepped in first and took a seat, the other princes filed in right behind him. Minghao took the seat next to Mingyu, across from Mingyu was Joshua and across from Minghao was Jeonghan. The silence in the room was stifling, no one wanting to talk with their opposite in the room.

Suddenly, Joshua sighed, “You know, I always expected the Fire kingdom to be, I don’t know, brighter? I mean, fire is a light source after all.”

“It’s understandable though,” Jeonghan said, “They are the doom and gloom kingdom after all.”

Mingyu rolled his eyes, and chose to keep his mouth shut. It wasn’t worth starting a fight now.

“Oh, by the way, I love your outfit Mingyu,” Jeonghan added sarcastically, trying to stir things up for the fun of it, “Can you even bend in that?”

“Wanna find out?” Mingyu replied starting to stand but was held back by Minghao.

“Gee, I would love to but I don’t think your boyfriend would like that very much.” Jeonghan laughed.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Mingyu snapped, crossing his arms. 

“Why do all firebenders have to get mad all the time? Maybe you should all just relax for five minutes.” Joshua sighed.

“I am perfectly relaxed!” Mingyu growled.

Jeonghan and Joshua laughed loudly, Minghao stood up, “Are all water and airbenders this obnoxious?”

“Not usually, no.” Joshua replied sweetly, “It must be all  _ your _ negativity that’s getting to us.”

“Oh lighten up Joshua,” Minghao said, flopping back onto the chair. 

Joshua was about to respond but Mingyu cut him off with a quick wave.

“Alright, let’s all just calm down.” Mingyu said finally, “Our parents want us to get along for once.”

“Easy for the magma-muncher to say,” Jeonghan said, leaning towards Joshua as he said it.

Mingyu slammed his hands onto the arms of the chair as he stood up, smoke literally emitted from his fists, “What the hell did you just call me, you damn guppie?!”

Jeonghan stood up now as well, “Magma-muncher.” 

Mingyu grabbed Jeonghan by the collar, “Shut  _ up _ .”

“It’s more fun this way.” Jeonghan sneered.

The other two princes were on their feet as well, Wonwoo and Jeonghan’s guard came over and pulled the two apart.

“You need to calm down.” Wonwoo said to Mingyu, as he pushed him back into the chair.

“He started it!” Mingyu complained.

“And I’m ending it!” Wonwoo snapped.

Joshua and Jeonghan laughed, in their kingdoms guards would never imagine talking to a prince in such a way but in the Earth and Fire kingdom, it was common for their selected guards to treat them like a regular person if the prince happened to act up. Everyone else sat down now but instead of trying to start another conversation, they all remained quiet and stared off in different directions. 

They managed to actually stay silent for once, Jeonghan even managed to fall asleep while Joshua meditated next to him. Mingyu and Minghao, as much as they wanted to do something, somehow were able to sit still. The best way to describe their states was that they fell asleep with their eyes open. 

When it came time for the feast, they were all relieved to leave but dismayed once again when they remembered they would have to share a table with each other once again. As it was custom during a feast, they had to stand until Mingyu’s father sat first, and Mingyu knew that his father would say a few words before that would happen. Minghao was the only other prince that was prepared for this, Jeonghan and Joshua stood respectfully but they looked annoyed at the slight inconvenience. 

Once they were finally permitted to sit, Jeonghan let out a deep sigh, “Boy, I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that he would be full of hot air.” Jeonghan joked.

Joshua elbowed him slightly and laughed lightly. Mingyu pretended to not hear the comment and instead decided to make one of his own after a lot of thinking, but probably not enough, “Oh, Joshua, we’re serving meat, I hope your vegetarian citizens won’t crucify you when you return home.” 

Joshua shrugged and smiled brightly, “Thank you for your concern but I’m sure they won’t mind, they may be in the majority but they never mind when we eat meat.”

For some reason, Mingyu was upset, mainly because his comment had backfired, he was usually good with coming up with insults against the Water kingdom but he wasn’t so good with insults against the Air kingdom. He tried his best, although those may be best left up to the Earth kingdom. For most of the feast, they only spoke in their common pairs. That was until Wonwoo came over and tapped Mingyu on the shoulder, leaned in and whispered, “Your father wanted me to tell you that you need to talk to the other two as well. Some people are starting to talk.”

Mingyu nodded and waved him away. He turned towards Minghao once again, “We’re being forced to talk to them now.” 

They both sighed and looked towards the couple in their own little world. “So what do the people of the Air kingdom do for fun?” Mingyu felt so awkward attempting to make small talk with Joshua, he was sure the entire room could sense it. 

Joshua looked towards Mingyu, a pleasant expression on his face, “We make a lot of music and sometimes we play sports.” 

“Oh, what kind of sports?” Minghao asked, trying to pretend that he wasn’t interested in hearing what the airbender had to say.

“Air ball mostly, but you wouldn’t be able to play it. You have to be an airbender to play it correctly and do well.” Joshua explained.

“Well I wouldn’t want to play it anyway…” Minghao was pouting slightly and Mingyu smacked him lightly under the table.

“And in the Water kingdom? What kind of fun could you possibly have?” Mingyu now asked Jeonghan, regrettably. 

“Going to the waterfall is a big deal, a lot of us like to go swimming and play games in the water, but I doubt you stiffs could ever find that fun.” Jeonghan said, waving his hand a bit.

“I make a habit of not getting wet a lot, I tend to steam too much.” Mingyu replied.

“Yeah, I can tell, you smell awful.” Jeonghan said, holding his nose as he said it. 

“I’ll have you know I spent the day training and didn’t have enough time to bathe before any of you came.” Mingyu defended, actually feeling a bit hurt at the comment.

“I can see you’re not used to hosting civilized people, I guess dirty moles don’t care how dusty and smelly their hosts are.” Jeonghan gestured to Minghao as he insulted earthbenders.

“Jeonghan, we were trying to be nice. How about you shut up for the rest of the night.” Minghao snapped.

Mingyu rubbed his face in annoyance, he had tried his best to be nice but as always, the waterbenders ruined everything. “Let’s all just not talk until the feast is over, alright?”

The rest agreed quickly and their table fell into silence for the rest of the feast. As soon as they were permitted to leave, the four of them jumped up from the table. Mingyu grabbed Minghao’s arm and rushed towards the courtyard. As they were trying to leave, both Mingyu’s and Minghao’s mothers stopped them.

“And where are you two off to?” Mingyu’s mother asked.

“We were just going to go train a little in the courtyard.” Mingyu replied.

The mothers nodded but still wouldn’t let the two by. “You should invite Jeonghan and Joshua to join you, I’m sure their mothers would appreciate it as well.” Minghao’s mother said, ruffling Minghao’s hair a bit.

“But mom~!” Minghao whined, “They’re annoying and mean!”

“I don’t care, darling, you need to be nice to them.” She lightly scolded.

“Fine.” they both agreed, they would be allowed to leave once they actually invited the other two. Reluctantly, they walked as calmly as they could to the other princes. 

“We’re going to go practice our bending in the courtyard, you can join us if you want to.” Mingyu sighed, he really did not want to be inviting these two into something he enjoyed doing with his friend. Secretly, he hoped they would refuse.

Jeonghan and Joshua looked at each other and shrugged, “Sure, why not?” they replied.

Mingyu and Minghao audibly groaned, turned, and led them to the courtyard. Truthfully, the only reason Jeonghan and Joshua agreed was because they were worried they would be bored. The last time either of them had been to the Fire kingdom, they were too young to leave their mothers sides. They didn’t know what to do for fun, even if they wanted to say that there was no real fun to be had. At least sitting in the courtyard would give them something to do.

Immediately when they arrived in the courtyard, Jeonghan sat down on the step and sighed loudly. Joshua joined him, and they linked arms as they sat. Mingyu looked at them and suddenly felt nervous.

“We’re gonna-” He started.

“Go ahead, we probably won’t watch anyway.” Jeonghan cut him off, leaning back on his hands and even closing his eyes.

Mingyu looked back to Minghao and they shrugged, deciding not to question them but instead actually get to training. Their idea of training with each other was just to practice their control, and defense. They didn’t see a point in actually trying to fight, but if one of them got a little too annoyed with the other there wasn’t anything wrong with a slight escalation; no injuries, just faster punches and a few more rocks.

It didn’t take much for both of them to forget the extra sets of eyes, and it wasn’t long before those extras were pretending not to look but were indeed interested.


	2. Ch. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the chapter format from this point on, it now switches between everyone's POVs (bolded names is where it switches), hope you all don't mind! I think I'll continue to post on Fridays, and I have up to chapter 7 completely written at this point.

**Seungcheol**

Seungcheol stood silently under the walkway, watching Minghao and Mingyu carefully. Beside him was Wonwoo, and seated just in front of them was Joshua and Jeonghan. They had only been out for about 15 minutes but it was obvious that the two princes that were not engaging in the practice were finally starting to get tired and bored. Both Seungcheol and Wonwoo knew better than to suggest allowing the other two to participate. 

“So, Seungcheol,” Wonwoo said suddenly, finally breaking their silence, “I heard from Mingyu that you and your boyfriend have worked things out to the point where you can see each other on a weekly basis.”

Seungcheol nodded, looking away from the action, “The only reason why it’s possible is because of Minghao, I’m really grateful. We both are actually.”

They both noticed Joshua and Jeonghan’s heads turn slightly towards them as they spoke. It didn’t really bother Seungcheol much, he was used to people listening into his conversations when not in private. 

“Are you or Mingyu seeing anyone currently?” Seungcheol asked.

Wonwoo shook his head, “Neither of us are very interested in that sort of thing. For all I know though, Mingyu could be interested, but I know I’m not; I’ve been too focused on protecting him so I don’t even have time for it.”

Seungcheol smiled slightly, he leaned over and whispered “I’d say you’re more interested than you think.”

Wonwoo turned towards the other, “I don’t understand…?”

“Of course you don’t, forget about it.” Seungcheol shrugged him off.

“Geez, from the way those two are talking, you’d almost think the moles and magma-munchers have real feelings.” Jeonghan said, making it seem like he was only speaking to Joshua, but everyone in the vicinity knew he meant it for them to hear.

“Hey, guppie, you talk big but are you a big hitter too?” Mingyu shouted, the two in the actual courtyard stopped their practice and stared at the two sitting. 

Jeonghan stood, “Of course I am, are you challenging me?”

Mingyu nodded, “I thought that was obvious, I think you need to drain the water from your ears once in a while.”

Joshua stood up now, but just as the two were about to step into the courtyard, their guards stopped them and advised them to retire for the night before they did something they would regret. Seungcheol was surprised to see how easily Joshua complied and how fast he could convince Jeonghan to do the same.

Mingyu and Minghao started laughing and mocking them as they left. As soon as Mingyu noticed the stern look coming from Wonwoo, he stopped laughing and sharply elbowed Minghao in the side to stop him as well.

“You two should know better than to challenge another prince like that.” Seungcheol sighed, walking over to Minghao and taking him by the arm.

Minghao protested, “I wanted to stay out until Soonyoung got here!”

“You should have thought of that before you got confident enough to want to fight another prince.”

“But Mingyu was the one who said it!” Minghao complained, dragging his feet as Seungcheol pulled him into the castle.

“Yet, I didn’t hear you say not to.” Seungcheol pointed out.

Minghao tried to find something to come back with but couldn’t think of anything. “Will you tell Soonyoung to come to my room if he gets back tonight?”

Seungcheol looked back at Minghao and sighed, “I don’t think that’s the best idea. That kind of thing may be normal in the Earth kingdom but if someone found the son of the war chief in bed with the prince, things might not end well.”

“B-but he wouldn’t be in bed with me! I ju-just wanted to see him, I swear!” Minghao stuttered, his voice falling into a hushed volume.

Seungcheol opened the door to Minghao’s room and ushered him inside, “You know that I’m your guard, and I’m sworn to protect you?” Seungcheol asked and Minghao nodded, “Well, my duties start the moment I wake up. I’ve come into your room to find you and Soonyoung sleeping next to each other. Most of the time I just let it go, but if you’ve ever woken up and didn’t know where Soonyoung went, it was because I woke him and told him to get back to his room.”

“Sometimes I get lonely at night, I mean, it’s not like we actually _do_ anything.” Minghao defended.

“Both of your bed clothes thrown throughout the room tells a different story, your highness.” Seungcheol said, tapping his lips as if in thought.

Minghao’s face turned bright red, “Please don’t tell Mingyu! He’d mock me forever if he found out!”

“You must have me confused with someone else if you believe I’d tell an outsider the secrets of my prince.” Seungcheol smiled as Minghao sighed in relief, “Now, get some rest, I will be by in the morning to wake you for breakfast.”

They nodded to each other and Seungcheol exited the room, shutting the door behind him tightly. He turned to walk down the hall but heard someone running up behind him, Seungcheol turned quickly, prepared to fight if needed. But the person he saw was none other than Kwon Soonyoung. “Oh, it's just you, you scared me.”

“Yeah, I saw you go in there and I was waiting for you to leave.” Soonyoung said.

Seungcheol put his hands on his hips, “Don’t tell me you were going to go into Minghao’s room, I don’t think-”

“No, I came to talk to you. Where is your room?”

Normally, Soonyoung wouldn’t ask to talk to Seungcheol privately unless there is a real concern, “It’s right next to Minghao’s.”

Soonyoung shook his head, “That’s too close, he could stop in and I don’t want him to hear this yet. Let’s go to my room.” Soonyoung grabbed Seungcheol’s hand and dragged him off to his room. Neither of them noticed Minghao’s door was open slightly.

Once they entered Soonyoung’s room, he shut the door and sighed.

“What’s up? You seem concerned.” Seungcheol crossed his arms.

Soonyoung nodded, “I saw something really odd when I was in the village today. My dad and I stopped by our favorite restaurant because we arrived while the feast was underway and he didn’t want to interrupt anything. As we were eating, I noticed a boy hanging a flyer with a purple lightning bolt on it across the street. I thought it was for a festival so I went and grabbed it but, you have to see what it’s really about.” Soonyoung reached into his shirt and pulled the folded flyer out and handed it to Seungcheol.

Seungcheol unfolded it and read it carefully, “An anti-bender rally?”

Soonyoung nodded, “It’s tomorrow night here in the Fire kingdom. Seungcheol, we have to go and see what it’s about.”

Seungcheol shook his head, “I can’t leave the prince here alone, what if something were to happen?”

“Get Wonwoo to look after him, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.” Soonyoung said.

“But if someone came after Mingyu and Wonwoo was watching Minghao, we would both get into trouble.”

Soonyoung grabbed Seungcheol’s shoulders tightly, “If we don’t go to this rally, something completely worse could happen.”

**Mingyu**

After a long bath and a good night of sleep, Mingyu was feeling ready to deal with the Water and Air princes again. He just wasn’t expecting Minghao to be in a sour mood. He greeted his friend with a smile when he met him at Minghao’s room, but Minghao only gave him a half-assed nod and a blank expression. It was the complete opposite of what he expected, especially considering Soonyoung had arrived last night.

“Are you okay?” Mingyu had to speed walk up to Minghao just to talk to him.

“Fine.” He responded simply.

Mingyu turned to look to Wonwoo and Seungcheol for help, they both shrugged. Although, Seungcheol did have a bit of an odd expression on his face.

“Did Soonyoung not show up after all?” Mingyu asked, trying to figure out what was wrong.

“No, he’s here,” Minghao slightly raised his head as he spoke, but his facial expression didn’t change.

“Should we go get him? He could join us fo-”

“He knows where he’s going.” Minghao snapped, glaring at Mingyu now. He sped up, forcing Seungcheol to pick up his pace as well.

Instead of rushing to catch up with him, Mingyu held back. He looked at Wonwoo again, who was looking just as confused as Mingyu felt.

“Did Seungcheol say anything to you?” Mingyu asked.

Wonwoo shook his head, “He didn’t say anything.”

“I’m going to ask him if he knows why Minghao’s so upset.” 

“You might not be able to do anything about it.”

“Maybe I can, so I wanna try to find out. I don’t think I can deal with everything without some other person.” He paused, “Well, besides you.”

“Me?”

“I’ve always got you!” Mingyu smiled brightly, and Wonwoo couldn’t help but smile back. They were both hoping the other didn’t notice them blushing.

They arrived in the hall, and Mingyu immediately noticed Minghao staring angrily at his plate, stabbing at the food. Maybe he shouldn’t try to pry, but he was going to anyway. He walked to the table where Seungcheol was sitting with Vernon. Seungcheol made a move to stand, but Mingyu waved him off.

“Did something happen to Minghao last night?” Mingyu asked, leaning onto the table.

Seungcheol shook his head, “I only told him it was too late for Soonyoung to visit him, he wasn’t in a bad mood when I left.”

Mingyu looked away, “Then maybe Soonyoung did visit and they fought.”

“You could ask him,” Vernon said, his mouth full as he spoke, and pointed towards the entrance of the hall.

Mingyu dropped a shoulder to look behind him, Soonyoung was walking towards them, yawning. As he approached the table, he quickly straightened and went to bow to Mingyu quickly. Mingyu stopped him again, already sick of the formalities. 

“Did you and Minghao fight last night?” Mingyu asked immediately.

Soonyoung’s face went red, “We didn’t even talk, why?”

“Maybe that’s it,” Mingyu said, but he still wasn’t fully satisfied with the answers he was getting.

“What’s all this about anyway?” Vernon asked, taking another large bite of his breakfast.

“Minghao’s in a bad mood, and I wanna know why.” He said, turning on his heels and walking over to the table Minghao was sitting at. 

He was glaring at them when Mingyu initially turned around, but he looked away quickly. Mingyu sat across from him and started grabbing his breakfast. 

“So why didn’t you and Soonyoung talk last night?” Mingyu asked, finally breaking the icy silence.

“He never came by.”

“Why not?”

“Probably because of Seungcheol.”

“I’m sure he had his reasons.”

“I’m sure he did,” he then whispered something else but it was too soft for Mingyu to hear. He didn’t ask him to repeat himself either. 

Instead of responding, Mingyu looked around for an out of some kind. He looked over his shoulder, eyes finding Wonwoo at his table, laughing with the others. He wished it was socially acceptable for him to go sit with them, he wanted to laugh with Wonwoo. His guard suddenly looked up and made eye contact with him, Mingyu looked away, pretending he hadn’t just been looking at the other. He glanced in the other direction, finding nothing good that way either. Jeonghan and Joshua had come in, their addition was _exactly_ what he needed right now.

They both politely said good morning, and sat. There was no indication that they wanted to start anything that morning, Mingyu hoped that meant they had just read the atmosphere that Minghao had created and chose to keep their mouths shut. 

While the four of them were eating, Mingyu’s father approached the table. Mingyu stayed seated while the other three stood and bowed.

“Please sit and continue eating, I just wanted to invite you all to join us for our meeting this afternoon. It will be held in my study, after dinner. It may go long, but I would encourage you all to come for at least the beginning.” Once he finished his sentence, he walked off, not waiting for a response.

Mingyu looked at the others to see what they were thinking. No one made any moves to suggest they were actually going or not. Tired of the tension, Mingyu stood and walked over to the other table. 

As he approached, Wonwoo stood up, expecting that Mingyu was ready to leave. Seeing this, Mingyu wanted to scream about how much he was sick of these customs. It hadn’t even been a full day yet, but he was already completely over it. Instead, he swallowed his emotions and left the hall, followed closely by Wonwoo and Vernon.

**Minghao**

He knew he couldn’t stay annoyed forever, eventually he was going to have to talk to either of them. They didn’t even know that he knew, he was just hoping one of them would come clean about what they were doing. A little communication would clear everything up very quickly, but that wasn’t something Minghao wanted at the moment.

Soonyoung tried to talk to him after breakfast, he even tried to drag Minghao back to his room so they could be alone, but the prince adamantly refused. His excuse? He didn’t sleep well, the bed was too uncomfortable. Minghao also got annoyed that neither Soonyoung nor Seungcheol even tried to press him about it. Clearly there was something else going on, but he wasn’t going to bring it up!

He went about his day in relative silence, even Soonyoung kept his distance and mouth shut. He sat through the entire 5 hour meeting the kings had, but he didn’t even absorb anything that was said. Even his dad saying he was glad to see that his son had stayed the whole time annoyed him. 

At supper, he chose to sit next to Mingyu so he could keep his back to Seungcheol and Soonyoung. 

“Okay, I’m tired of this silence. What really is wrong with you?” Mingyu asked, sounding incredibly determined.

“It’s just stupid stuff, I don’t like being left out and people are going behind my back.” He tried to be vague, Mingyu didn’t need to know everything.

Mingyu leaned in more, “Who?”

He couldn’t very well say who he was actually upset over without leading to Mingyu questioning why he would be upset at them, “Just some friends, you wouldn’t know them. It’s fine.”

Mingyu nodded and pouted slightly, Minghao knew his answer wouldn’t satisfy him, but it was the best he could give. At this point, changing the subject completely might have been better but the effort he put into that would have to be decided later.

“Jihoon is coming tomorrow,” Minghao said quickly, loudly enough that Jeonghan and Joshua could hear it as well.

“Both of us have someone coming tomorrow too,” Jeonghan said, “Maybe they’ll come at the same time.”

Josh shook his head, “Junhui’s coming tomorrow morning, I think Seungkwan would come after that.”

“Why are they coming?” Mingyu asked, his tone had a bit of a bite in it, which did not match the rest of the mood from the table but came out nonetheless.

“We wanted our friends to come, since we don’t want to be around you two all the time.” Joshua said simply.

“And what’s wrong with us?” Mingyu asked, this time his tone clearly more hostile.

Jeonghan scoffed, “You really have to ask that?”

Mingyu opened his mouth to respond, but shut it again quickly. They fell into an uneasy silence once again. Supper was finished in silence; Minghao stood and finally turned to see Soonyoung leaning over and whispering something to Seungcheol that made him laugh. The anger that had subsided a short time ago welled up again. Mingyu said something to him, but he only caught the words “training” and agreed.

Seungcheol noticed Minghao was standing and got up from the table, walking over. Minghao didn’t even make eye contact with him as he turned and walked out of the hall. He tried telling himself it was all in his head, Seungcheol already had a boyfriend, why would he try to take Minghao’s boyfriend too? But in the end, he knows what he heard and saw, and he really didn’t like it.

Somehow, he found himself in the courtyard. He and Mingyu started doing their typical training routine. At one point, he looked off to the side towards Seungcheol. As he expected, Wonwoo was on his one side, but on the other was Soonyoung, who was, once again, whispering something in his ear.

Without thinking, Minghao widened his stance and dug much deeper than he normally would. He pulled up rocks about the size of two fists, and flung them at Mingyu, who managed to just barely block them. Without a pause, Minghao did it again. And again, and the fourth time he threw even larger rocks at Mingyu.

Mingyu yelled in surprise, he threw his arms in front of his face instead of trying to get rid of the projectiles. He braced for impact, but it never came.

“Minghao, what are you thinking! You could have really hurt him.” Seungcheol sounded furious, he had blocked the rocks before they could hurt the prince.

Minghao’s face softened when he realized what he had done; he looked at Mingyu first who still looked worried, then to Wonwoo, Seungcheol and, lastly, he looked at Soonyoung. He had moved down to the bottom step, instead of moving closer, he paused. Minghao’s face went red, in anger and embarrassment. 

“I’m going to my room.” He spat, shoving Soonyoung as he walked into the castle.

**Seungcheol**

“We shouldn’t be doing this.” Seungcheol breathed as he and Soonyoung walked to the rally that night, “What if something happens to Minghao?”

Soonyoung sighed, thinking about how reckless the prince had been earlier, and pulled Seungcheol into the nearest alley, “Listen, I’m just as worried as you are, but we have to make sure that these anti-benders aren’t a huge threat. It’s better to find out now than later, right?”

Seungcheol looked towards the palace before nodding to Soonyoung. The rally took place in the old fire bender arena, where no one besides young kids would come. The two pulled their hoods over their faces and merged with the crowd, sitting next to each other in the stands. The rally started a few moments later when a group of people came into the center of the area and stood in a line. Their faces were covered, but Seungcheol noted that, by their posture alone, they seemed young.

“My fellow non-benders!” The one in the middle shouted, “Welcome! I’m pleased with how many of you showed up tonight! Many of you do not know who we are. We are the Purple Lightning and I am DK, their leader. We started off as a small group of non-benders living in the Water kingdom but have since branched out into the Air kingdom and now we come to the Fire kingdom.” He paused, “Our goal is to take out all benders, we want to destroy them, to kill them as they sleep.”

The crowd started to mumble after the words were spoken, Soonyoung and Seungcheol looked at each other worriedly. Seungcheol suddenly realized they might be in over their heads, maybe they should have told someone else about it.

DK raised his hands and the crowd quieted, “I know it seems scary, to kill benders, but if we group together it is not impossible. Aren't you tired of being pushed around? Don't you want to see those who cause you to suffer, learn what it feels like? Join us and be free from the oppression of the benders! Never again will you have to listen to their tyrannical ruling, we are the revolution!"

Suddenly, a few voices in the crowd began to cheer and slowly the rest of the crowd joined in, many standing and clapping. DK did not leave where he stood, he looked at the stands and grinned, waiting for them to calm down again. “I’m glad you all are with us, but you must patiently wait, my friends, all the rulers and their families are here for the time being but once they leave…” DK clapped his open palm to his fist, “we will crush them. One by one.”

Soonyoung leaned over to Seungcheol, “We have to get out of here, we gotta tell someone.” 

Seungcheol nodded in response and they both stood, pushing their way out of the stands and out of the arena. As they reached the exit, someone grabbed Seungcheol’s arm, “Where are you going? Don’t you want to join in on the revolution?”

“I-I’m not sure if I should,” Seungcheol stuttered. He backed away from the person, trying to pull his arm away. Someone came up behind him, and when he bumped into them, his hood suddenly fell off his head.

The person who had his arm dropped it and stepped back, “I know you! You’re the Earth prince’s guard! You’re a bender!” they started to shout.

Seungcheol and Soonyoung began to panic as other people started turning towards the scene. “We have to run!” Soonyoung shouted.

“They’ll catch us!” Seungcheol stated, but he came up with an idea. He firmly planted a foot into the earth and stomped hard with the other, raising a large wall in the process, he threw his arms above his head, causing the wall to slam into the top of the archway. “Now we can run!” Seungcheol shouted, grabbing Soonyoung’s arm and together they ran back to the palace.

“Now I can see why you’re the guard and I’m just the boyfriend!” Soonyoung shouted as they ran.

As soon as they reached the palace doors they stopped to catch their breath, thinking they were out of the fire but someone grabbed the back of their collars and hoisted them up. “And for what reason does prince Minghao’s guard and the Earth kingdom’s war chief’s son think they’re doing running around at night?”

Seungcheol groaned, fearing what would happen to them next. 

“I’m sure the Earth king would love to have a word with you, it’s not like he’s been looking for you or anything.” 

Soonyoung and Seungcheol looked at each other and gulped as they were pushed into the palace and led to the Earth king’s room. As they entered the room, the king was standing with his back towards the door, the queen seated in a chair reading peacefully, Soonyoung’s father leaning against the wall, and another person seated across from the queen. The guard announced the two’s arrival and everyone in the room immediately turned their attention to Soonyoung and Seungcheol, except for the person seated across from the queen.

“What were you thinking, Seungcheol, leaving Minghao unattended and running off into the village for a good time?” The king demanded.

Seungcheol bowed deeply, “I know what I did was wrong, but we heard something about-”

“I don’t care what you heard!” The king cut Seungcheol off loudly, slamming his fist against the wall, “What if someone had broken into the castle, no one was protecting Minghao, he could have been hurt.”

“I know, sir, I deeply apologize, but-”

“Do not make excuses!” The king shouted again.

“Let him speak, dear, I’m sure he has a valid reason.” The queen said softly, reaching her hand towards the king.

The king sighed, “Fine, say what you must.”

“Thank you, your highness. Yesterday, Soonyoung told me about an anti-bender rally he found a flyer for in the village. We went to the rally tonight to see what was going on and if these anti-benders were dangerous or not.”

Soonyoung’s father approached them, his hands pressed firmly behind his back, “This is not something you two should have done on your own, you could have been caught and seriously injured.”

“Oh,” Soonyoung piped up, “well, now that you mention it, we pretty much were caught as we were leaving though. But Seungcheol, you should have seen him, he bended a wall over the entrance and we got away. It was awesome! He looked really cool!”

The king and war chief looked at the two in shock and suddenly the unknown person stood. 

“Why does it seem like you two are always running off and doing stuff without me!” Minghao snapped, storming out of the room.

Soonyoung turned to follow him but was stopped by another Earth kingdom guard. The king sighed deeply and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Minghao is not in a good mood right now, he is under the impression that you two are seeing each other behind his back. He came and complained to his mother about it. To me, this doesn’t make sense, but then again, I don’t really understand my son as well as I would like to. What is your relationship to one another?”

They both fell into a loss for words, almost embarrassed to talk about these things with the king, “Just friends, your highness,” Soonyoung answered, “besides, Seungcheol is already seeing someone.”

The king nodded, “That’s what I thought.”

“However, I have another question, since the prince is so upset about you two going off. Soonyoung, how would you describe your relationship with the prince?” Soonyoung’s father spoke, his eyes never leaving Soonyoung.

Soonyoung started to visibly panic, they were trying to keep their relationship private since it was fairly inappropriate for a few reasons. The prince was not supposed to engage in sexual activity before he was married, and on top of that, he was technically not supposed to be with someone that much lower in rank than him. “It’s not what you’re all probably thinking, he and I are just friends as well, no big deal.”

“You’re lying.” Soonyoung’s father said.

Seungcheol heard Soonyoung’s breath catch in his throat.

“N-no I’m not! I swear!” Soonyoung started to back up but a guard stopped him once again.

“Tell us the truth!” Soonyoung’s father demanded.

“I am!” Soonyoung shouted back.

The queen stood up now, “Kwon! Leave your son alone this instant and leave us.” Soonyoung’s father smoothed his clothes and brushed past Seungcheol and Soonyoung. The queen also gestured for the king to leave, who tried to complain but realized that complaints wouldn’t work on his wife. As soon as the king left the queen looked to Seungcheol, “I’m going to also ask you to leave even though I know you already know everything, please go attend to my son, he’s feeling very betrayed.” 

Seungcheol nodded, bowed and walked out of the room. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the king and Soonyoung’s father talking to each other in hushed, worried voices.

**Soonyoung**

Soonyoung stood awkwardly in front of the queen after everyone had left, she smiled at him and gestured for him to sit across from her. He complied quickly and sunk into the comfortable chair.

“You don’t have to worry about my husband and your father finding out about anything, I already know about you and Minghao. I won’t tell them.”

“Your majesty?” Soonyoung asked, feeling confused.

She sighed, “I know about your relationship with my son, Minghao told me everything. He came to me the moment after you two kissed for the first time, and after other significant events.” She winked, and even laughed slightly.

Soonyoung didn’t know how to respond, he was shocked that Minghao had told someone about their relationship. “I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t be with your son but I think I may be in love with him…”

The queen chuckled again, “I’m not upset with you, Soonyoung, I’m actually rather proud. You made Minghao a promise that you wouldn’t tell anyone and you’ve kept it, most people would have told everyone if they had a chance to be with the prince. I know that feeling all too well.”

Soonyoung’s eyebrows arched in confusion, “I’m not sure I understand what you’re talking about, your highness.”

She laughed lightly and brushed a hair out of her face, “I was no heiress, my parents weren’t even high ranked, but still, the king fell in love with me before I even knew what was happening. Yes, having sexual relations is forbidden before marriage but it has happened in every generation, you and Minghao are not the first.”

Soonyoung smiled slightly at her words, but wasn’t sure what to do with this information.

The queen reached forward and placed her hand onto Soonyoung’s cheek, “Don’t worry child, your secret is safe with me. Now,” she pulled her hand away and stood up, “go to my son and make sure he knows that you and Seungcheol aren’t seeing each other behind his back! Don’t let his heart break over a misunderstanding!”

Soonyoung stood quickly and nodded sharply, rushing from the room and practically running to Minghao’s room where Seungcheol was standing outside. 

“You probably don’t want to go in there, he started throwing rocks at me when I tried.” Seungcheol warned.

“Yeah, but you’re you and I’m me, he’ll want to see me.” Soonyoung said confidently and knocked on the door.

“Who is it this time?” Minghao asked from the other side of the door.

“It’s Soonyoung.” he said, winking at Seungcheol.

“Oh fuck off.” Minghao said and something thumped against the door.

“You were saying?” Seungcheol laughed.

“I’m still going in, you bastard.” Soonyoung shot at Seungcheol as he opened the door to Minghao’s room, immediately ducking to avoid the rock speeding towards his head. “Where are you getting these rocks from?”

“Does it matter?” Minghao asked as he prepared to throw another.

Soonyoung shut the door and started walking towards Minghao. Minghao threw another rock at Soonyoung and it hit the target in the gut. Soonyoung grabbed his stomach and fell backwards, biting back tears. The prince really was rather strong.

Minghao looked at Soonyoung and gasped, “Oh shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I was just mad and it was an accident, I’m really sorry Soonyoung.” He knelt down beside him, placing a hand onto Soonyoung’s knee.

Soonyoung had to stop himself from grinning so he could really lay on the pain. He started groaning loudly, “I think you might have ruptured something, it hurts to move.”

Minghao’s eyes widened and he started to panic, “W-what? What should I do? Do you need me to get someone?”

Soonyoung grabbed Minghao’s arm, “I think you’re gonna have to kiss it better.”

Minghao was confused for a moment, but then he understood what was going on, “Oh come on, you bastard! You’re fine, get up!”

Soonyoung stood up and pouted, “So you’re not going to kiss my stomach?”

“No!” He crossed his arms now, “Why don't you get Seungcheol to kiss you there and everywhere else for now on? You two have been spending so much time together anyway.”

“We only went out to find out what was happening with the anti-benders, there’s nothing else going on! Besides, I’m not and have never been even interested in Seungcheol, I’m only seeing you! Did you already forget that I made you a promise that I wouldn’t see anyone else besides you? I love you Minghao, I really do.”

Minghao sighed, his expression still wary, “Prove it.”

“How? I’ll do anything.”

Minghao sat back onto his bed, and motioned for Soonyoung to come closer. Minghao grabbed Soonyoung’s hips and pulled him close, Soonyoung placed his hands onto the other’s shoulders. “Stay with me tonight, Soonyoung.”

“Aren’t you worried that someone will find us?” Soonyoung whispered.

“I don’t care, I want you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all liked this update! My Twitter is "baybehbrenton" if you happen to want to find me when I'm not posting, but until then...see you in a week!


	3. Ch. 3

**Soonyoung**

Soonyoung woke to Seungcheol shaking him, and clothes slapping him in the face, “You have to get up now, Wonwoo told me that Mingyu was going to come by here. Minghao doesn’t want Mingyu to know about you two yet so get up and put your clothes on.”

Soonyoung jumped from the bed, not really caring that Seungcheol was still in the room as he fumbled to get dressed. “Minghao is still naked! What are we supposed to do about that?”

Seungcheol and Soonyoung looked at each other for a few beats.

“I think... we’re going to have to dress him ourselves.” Seungcheol said awkwardly. 

They both began to rush around to gather Minghao’s scattered clothes. Soonyoung threw the covers away from his sleeping boyfriend and had to stop himself from smiling, Seungcheol on the other hand was looking away and handed Soonyoung Minghao’s undergarments first. “Let’s get this over with.”

“You act like you’ve never seen a naked man before Seungcheol.” Soonyoung laughed as he carefully began to slip the underwear on Minghao; trying his best not to wake the sleeping prince.

“Seeing Minghao naked really wasn’t on my list of things I needed to see in my life, you know.” Seungcheol replied, finally looking back now that Minghao had something covering him. 

They worked together to put Minghao’s shirt on, as they did, Minghao stirred slightly but didn’t fully wake up, and they both sighed in relief.

“Do you think it will matter if Mingyu finds him in just his underwear and a shirt?” Soonyoung asked, eyeing the pants with animosity. 

“I’m sure that would be fine.” Seungcheol sighed. The two nodded to each other and left the room. 

As Soonyoung walked to the great hall for breakfast, he passed an unfamiliar boy. The boy was standing in the middle of the hallway, hands behind his back, and looking up at the Fire kingdom’s royal family portrait.

“Are you okay?” Soonyoung asked.

The boy looked at him and smiled, “My mother rushed off somewhere without me and I didn’t want to get lost. Could you help me find the great hall?”

Soonyoung nodded, “Yeah, follow me.” He started to walk with the boy following closely behind him, “I’m Kwon Soonyoung by the way, and you are?”

“Wen Junhui, it’s nice to meet you. Do you live here in the Fire kingdom?” Junhui asked.

Soonyoung shook his head, “No, I’m from another kingdom.”

“Oh, I see, which one?”

As Soonyoung was about to answer, another person came running down the stairs, “Junhui!” they shouted. 

Both Soonyoung and Junhui looked towards the voice.

“Joshua!” Junhui greeted.

Soonyoung stepped back but kept his mouth shut as the two hugged each other in greeting.

“Where are you off to?” Joshua asked, smiling widely.

“Oh, this person was just showing me where the great hall was, my mom rushed off to meet your father as soon as we got here and left me alone.” Junhui answered.

“Are you from the Air kingdom?” Soonyoung finally spoke up.

Junhui nodded, still smiling, “Why do you ask?”

Soonyoung rolled his eyes, “I should have known, you did seem a little too light on your feet.”

The smile melted off Junhui’s face, he looked hurt, “What do you mean?”

“I think this person is from the Earth kingdom.” Joshua said, grabbing Junhui’s arm and stepping in front of him.

“Listen your highness, I’ll walk you two to the great hall but after that, let’s keep our distance.”

“That may be best.” Joshua replied, his voice flat.

Soonyoung begrudgingly walked the two to the great hall, once there he overly extended his arms to usher them inside. Junhui looked back at Soonyoung as he entered the great hall, he had a defeated look on his face but Soonyoung only gave him a hard look in return. He couldn’t believe he had been nice to an airbender, even if it was only for a few seconds. As he was about to walk away, someone came up behind him and jumped onto his back. Soonyoung shouted in surprise but as soon as he heard the person’s laugh, he relaxed.

“Vernon, you scared me! I almost hit you.”

“Worth it, especially after seeing you helping those air benders. What was that about anyway?”

“That tall one was lost and I started to help him before I knew he was an air bender. Plus,” Soonyoung leaned towards Vernon, “I think he might be into me, even though we just met and literally know nothing about each other.”

Vernon laughed, “What makes you say that?”

“He kept looking at me weirdly, like have you seen the way Wonwoo looks at Mingyu?”

Vernon stopped smiling and looked confused, “I don’t understand, doesn’t Wonwoo just look at Mingyu?”

“Oh boy, have I got news for you.” Soonyoung laughed, throwing his arm over Vernon’s shoulders and leading him into the great hall, “Listen kid, when you look at someone or something you love, your eyes just light up and you get a silly grin on your face sometimes. That’s how Wonwoo looks at Mingyu and that’s how that Junhui guy looked at me.” He looked wistfully off into the distance for dramatic effect.

Vernon nodded slowly, “So you mean to tell me that my best friend’s guard has a crush on my best friend?”

“...Yes, but that’s not the point here, we’re talking about me.”

“No, yeah, I understand that, but I’ve been so oblivious this whole time! I kept trying to get Mingyu with Minghao, but I was really missing the best opportunity!”

Soonyoung shook his head slightly in surprise, “You’ve been trying to hook Mingyu up with Minghao?”

“Yeah,” Vernon sat on a bench and crossed his arms, “but Minghao just isn’t interested in Mingyu, so it wasn’t going well. It doesn’t make any sense...”

Vernon kept talking, but the other wasn’t listening anymore. Soonyoung smiled to himself, sitting across from Vernon, and began to fill his plate with whatever looked good, someone came up to the table and roughly pushed their heads down, “What are you two kids gossiping about now?”

“Get off me Wonwoo, I’m hungry!” Soonyoung snapped, smacking Wonwoo’s hand off his head.

“You actually.” Vernon said as Wonwoo sat next to him.

“Me? What is there to say about me?”

“Well, Soonyoung says that you’ve actually been in love with Mingyu this whole time and I just realized how stupid I’ve been!” Vernon explained, sounding totally defeated.

Wonwoo looked to Soonyoung with his eyebrows arched, “oh?”

Soonyoung laughed nervously, “Just a bit of Earth kingdom speculation is all, don’t worry about it.”

“You’re not even the first person to say something like that, Seungcheol hinted at it yesterday as well.” Wonwoo said.

“So are we right?” Soonyoung asked.

Wonwoo gave him a stern look, “Wrong, I’m just his guard, I have no romantic feelings for prince Mingyu.”

Soonyoung nodded slowly, “Your words say one thing but your face says another.”

Wonwoo’s eyes narrowed, “Soonyoung, stop it.”

Soonyoung realized that he was dangerously close to making Wonwoo lose his cool and went on to stuff his face full of food to show that he was moving on from the topic. At that moment, Mingyu and Minghao came into the great hall, laughing loudly and followed closely by Seungcheol. After last night, Seungcheol would probably never leave Minghao's side to make up for all the trouble the two had caused. Minghao looked over at Soonyoung and smiled softly. Vernon had turned at that moment and noticed the look, reaching across the table to tap Soonyoung’s arm.

“Hey, so did that air bender guy look at you the way Minghao just looked at you?” Vernon asked.

Soonyoung almost choked, “I didn’t see him give me any look.”

“Oh, well I thought I noticed one but I wouldn’t know. I guess I’m not good at these things.” Vernon shrugged.

“Oh there was a look there.” Wonwoo added, giving Soonyoung a look that screamed revenge.

Soonyoung quickly looked away from Wonwoo, looking out across the rest of the room. His eyes landed on the boy from earlier, Junhui was looking towards Soonyoung with the look that Soonyoung had just described to Vernon, this time it was a bit more longingly than before. Soonyoung awkwardly smiled in Junhui’s direction and looked back at his plate, “I think I accidentally made an air bender fall in love with me.”

“How do you ‘accidently’ make someone fall in love with you?” Wonwoo asked.

“I was nice to him!” Soonyoung replied, his face filling with an expression of anxiety.

Wonwoo burst into loud laughter.

**Wonwoo**

Wonwoo walked closely behind Mingyu as he had been trained to do, his eyes never leaving the prince’s back. His eyes slowly began to wander down his back until Wonwoo realized what he was doing and he snapped his eyes back up, hoping no one had seen what had just happened. Seungcheol and Soonyoung’s words echoed in his head, perhaps he could have romantic feelings for the prince. After all, he did think Mingyu was rather attractive, but only in the sense that he was attractive to other people. Certainly not for Wonwoo, he could never have those kinds of feelings for Mingyu. 

At that moment, Mingyu stopped walking and turned towards Wonwoo, who wasn’t paying any attention and ended up running right into the prince.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, your highness, I was a bit distracted.” Wonwoo apologized, his face turning pink as he spoke.

Mingyu laughed and put his hands on Wonwoo’s shoulders, “That’s fine, I figured you weren’t.”

“How did you know?” Wonwoo asked.

“You were shuffling your feet and you only do that when your mind is elsewhere.”

Wonwoo looked to his feet, “I guess you know me pretty well, your highness.”

Mingyu laughed again, “Of course I do, we’re friends aren’t we?”

Wonwoo shrugged, “Well, I’m more of your guard but if you think we’re friends, then I guess we are, your highness.”

Mingyu sighed now, “How many times do I have to tell you, stop calling me ‘your highness,’ just call me Mingyu, it’s fine.”

“Of course, sorry, your high-I mean, Mingyu.” Wonwoo smiled weakly.

Mingyu smiled and turned back around, walking away. Wonwoo took a deep breath and followed after. They were walking to the courtyard where they would be meeting with Minghao, Seungcheol and Soonyoung. It could also be assumed that the other prince’s would be joining them at a later time, the queens were all hoping that their sons would get along like they did. Wonwoo knew this would be rather impossible, at least between the Fire and Water kingdoms, there wasn’t as much of a strain between the Air and Earth kingdoms. 

The three Earth kingdom residents were waiting in the courtyard, as soon as Mingyu saw them, he rushed over, throwing his arms around the shoulders of Minghao and Soonyoung. Seungcheol nodded to Wonwoo as he approached.

“I want to talk with you.” Wonwoo whispered.

Seungcheol nodded again and the two stepped back, standing under the overhang now.

“What’s up?” Seungcheol asked.

“What if you’re right.” Wonwoo said.

Seungcheol looked confused, “Right about what?”

“Me liking Mingyu.” Wonwoo’s voice dropped to a whisper as he leaned into Seungcheol to say it.

Seungcheol shrugged, “Maybe letting him know of your feelings could work.”

“If I told him I’d have to step down for sure, his father would never allow that.” 

Seungcheol gave him a sour look, “Just because you told him your feelings doesn’t mean you’ll have to step down. Mingyu might not care that much. He might just let it go and move on but at least you’d have been honest with him. What brought this on, may I ask?”

“It’s nothing.” Wonwoo said, standing straight.

Suddenly, a few Fire kingdom guards came rushing into the courtyard, surprising everyone with their urgency. “Wonwoo, Seungcheol, take the princes to the safe room.”

Wonwoo immediately went over and grabbed Mingyu’s arm, starting to pull him inside but Mingyu was resisting.

“Why? What’s happening?” Mingyu asked the other guards.

“There was an attack on some benders just outside the palace, we aren’t sure if the perpetrators will try to get into the castle but we are doing everything to keep you two safe, your highness.” The one explained.

“I want to help.” Mingyu said sternly.

“I’m sorry, your highness but we are under direct orders from your father. Now please go to the safe room, prince Joshua and prince Jeonghan are already there.”

Wonwoo pulled Mingyu into the palace, Seungcheol followed closely behind with Minghao, who had a tight grip on Soonyoung’s arm. The safe room was heavily guarded and as they entered, Soonyoung was stopped.

“He’s coming with me.” Minghao said.

The guards looked at each other and were about to reject Minghao’s request but Mingyu stepped up, “Let him in. If you don’t, Minghao probably won’t come in, and you’ll have to answer to my father as to why one prince was not in the safe room.”

The guards immediately stepped back and allowed Soonyoung inside the room. Minghao looked at Mingyu, smiled, then proceeded to visibly blush. Wonwoo looked around the room and noted the two other princes, their guards and one boy he didn’t recognize but from the way the boy’s eyes lit up when he noticed Soonyoung, Wonwoo figured this was that Air kingdom boy he had mentioned at breakfast. Wonwoo glanced at Soonyoung and smirked, he was hoping for things to get interesting.

Mingyu started to pace around the room, still clearly upset that he was not allowed to help the ambushed benders. 

Wonwoo lightly grabbed Mingyu’s arm and leaned towards him, “Calm down, you’ll get your time to fight soon.”

“But I want to fight now! I don’t want to wait.” Mingyu whined.

Wonwoo gave him a stern look, “I know you don’t, you never do. But you have to.”

Mingyu leaned closer to Wonwoo’s face, “And what will you do if I listen?”

“You want something for following a simple request? Isn’t that a little spoiled of you?” Wonwoo joked.

“I  _ am  _ a prince after all.” Mingyu said, backing up and sitting down in one of the chairs.

Wonwoo let out a deep breath, he still wasn’t used to Mingyu getting that close to his face like that. As an added idea, Mingyu had made a comment that shook him. Did he actually want something from Wonwoo? The comment was just as ambiguous as his tone, it was hard to tell.

Seungcheol came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, “You know, if you two hadn’t been in a room full of people, he might have kissed you.”

Wonwoo’s face got hot, “That’s not true.”

“Trust me,” Seungcheol said, “I know.”

Wonwoo wanted desperately to smack him but knew that wouldn’t be a good idea, especially since they were on duty, and on high alert, at the moment. 

They were in the safe room for a while before the doors opened and they heard a familiar voice shouting. 

“No! I don’t want to go in there! I was doing a much better job of defending myself than any of those weak-ass guards were anyway! Let me go! I don’t deserve this!” The person shouted, obviously kicking up a fuss in the process.

Before the fusser came into the room, a boy with mussed hair and a shocked expression was escorted inside. Jeonghan stood and welcomed the boy over to him, calling him Boo Seungkwan. Finally the boy who was putting up such a fight was pulled into the room and told to stay put. Once the doors were shut the boy started pounding on them.

Seungcheol laughed, leaning over to make a comment just for Wonwoo to hear, “He may not be a prince, but Jihoon sure acts like he runs the place.”

Jihoon looked around the room until he found Minghao. He pointed at the prince, his face scrunching into an angry expression, “Tell them to let me go out there and help them, Minghao!”

Jeonghan and Joshua gasped slightly, they obviously had no idea who Jihoon was and what kind of right he had to be talking to a prince in such a way.

Minghao laughed, “Why don’t you just break down the door? What’s stopping you?”

Mingyu turned quickly, “No, please don’t do that!”

Jiihoon put his hands on his hips, “Why shouldn’t I?”

“You could hurt one of the guards.” Mingyu said simply.

“Oh fuck them, they won’t let me help them.” Jihoon huffed and crossed his arms. He looked around the room slowly, Wonwoo noticed how his expression softened after his eyes landed on a particular person. Wonwoo tried his best to follow his eyes, noticing that the only person in that general direction was the same boy that Soonyoung was convinced was in love with him. Jihoon went and sat on the floor next to Soonyoung and proceeded to grumble. 

“How long do we have to stay in here?” Mingyu complained, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Oh be quiet, you’ve done nothing but complain since you’ve got here.” Jeonghan snapped.

Mingyu’s attention turned towards Jeonghan, “Why don’t you tell that to your friend there, he’s had nothing but overly-dramatic complaints to say the whole time he’s been here too.”

“He was just attacked! Lighten up Mingyu!” Jeonghan’s face hardened.

“So was Jihoon and he’s not complaining about how he almost died.” Mingyu snapped back.

“Hey, don’t bring me into your water and fire fight.” Jihoon spoke up.

Mingyu smiled sarcastically at Jihoon quickly before looking back at Jeonghan. "Listen here  _ prince,  _ this is my home. If there is something going on, I want to know about it and help however I can. Of course I'm going to complain, I'm being left in the dark while my people could be in danger, you would act the same way if you were in my situation."

"I would never be in this situation because everyone in my kingdom is satisfied and at peace. Maybe if your father wasn't so tyrannical, this wouldn't have happened." Jeonghan spat back.

"I hate to cut in like this but I've heard more people from the Water kingdom complain about how things are than people of the Fire kingdom." Soonyoung interjected.

Jeonghan shot Soonyoung a nasty look as Mingyu and Minghao held back a laugh.

"And what would you know, you dirty mole?" Jeonghan sneered.

Jihoon stood up quickly, "Watch your tongue prince."

"Jeonghan, let it go, he was probably only saying that to get a rise out of you." An unfamiliar voice chimed in, the voice belonging to the boy Soonyoung had talked about.

"Yes, everyone just calm down. Junhui is right, Minghao's friend probably just wanted a reaction. Tensions are very high right now so maybe staying quiet for a bit will help." Joshua said in a soft tone.

Everyone sat in silence after that, Wonwoo watching Mingyu. At one point Mingyu stretched out, lifting his pelvis off the chair as he did. Wonwoo suddenly felt hot under the collar so he looked away quickly, looking towards the door now. At that moment, the doors opened and a few guards stepped inside.

"The palace is now secure, you are all free to go. However, by the king's request, you will not be permitted out of the palace until there is guaranteed safety." One announced.

Mingyu sprang up, "Finally! Any longer and I would have gone crazy!"

"I'm pretty sure you've already gone crazy, Mingyu." Minghao said with a laugh.

They both went to leave so Wonwoo and Seungcheol followed after them. Jihoon and Soonyoung came along, whispering to themselves as they did.

"Did you find yourself a little  _ distracted _ in there?" Seungcheol now whispered to Wonwoo.

"I'm not sure what you mean." Wonwoo replied simply, continuing to stare at the back of Mingyu's head.

"Oh come on, whenever he did anything mildly suggestive, your face would get red." Seungcheol laughed.

"How would you know if he did anything suggestive?"

"He was sitting next to Minghao."

"Oh..." Wonwoo said softly.

"He knows you were watching, you know." Seungcheol added. 

Wonwoo's face flushed, "How would you know that?"

"He would smile every time you reacted. Even the smallest of reactions, like you shifting your weight or clearing your throat. He knew you were watching him, and not watching him like a guard normally would."

Wonwoo stayed silent for a moment, "Let's change topics now."

**Seungkwan**

“So, what happened out there?” Jeonghan asked. The Water and Air kingdoms boys had gathered in Jeonghan’s room after being allowed out of the safe room.

“I don’t even know. We were just on our way here, the carriage stopped, then there was a lot of shouting. My mom and dad jumped out and started fighting.” Seungkwan started, still fazed from the experience.

“And what did you do?” Junhui asked now, hoping for some more action.

“I couldn’t do much! I’m not great at offensive bending, I’m only good at healing. I got out and tried to help, but my dad pushed me towards the guards and told them to take me to the palace. Really, I’m not sure what I thought I could even do!” Seungkwan was almost shouting now.

“What did they attack you with?” Junhui pressed.

Seungkwan scrunched his nose as he thought, “Arrows and some type of smoke bombs, mainly. There were some with swords, but they didn’t get too close. There were so many of them!”

“What about that earth bender boy? Did you see him at all?” Jeonghan asked, remembering Jihoon only because of his harshness.

Seungkwan shook his head, “Not when we were outside, I only saw him after I came into the castle. He was already here when I got in. I think he should have been left out to fight though.”

“He probably wouldn’t have done too badly.” Junhui commented.

Seungkwan crossed his arms and pouted, “I don’t wanna talk about this anymore, let’s move on.”

Jeonghan ruffled Seungkwan’s hair, “Fine, did you eat yet? It’s almost time for lunch, but we could find something for you.”

Seungkwan shook his head, “I’m not hungry, I want to explore.”

“I guess we could walk around the castle until it’s time,” Joshua said, already getting to his feet. 

Junhui scrambled to his feet and rushed to the door, Joshua watched him with a confused expression on his face.

“Do you have somewhere to show us?” Joshua asked.

“No, I just wanted to get up.” Junhui replied, smiling.

The rest followed after him, and they walked around the palace aimlessly. No one asked where they were going, and the only people they ran into were other guards. Seungkwan would comment on some of the art as they walked by, Jeonghan would give his opinion as well. They usually agreed that it looked good. 

They eventually reached a point of the castle that no one recognized, but they didn’t feel confused about where they were or how they got there.

“That’s probably the dungeon entrance,” Joshua pointed to the door at the end of the hall.

“Kind of spooky,” Junhui commented, nodding a little.

Seungkwan stared at the door a little longer as the other three turned to leave.

“Seungkwan, let’s get going, it’s probably lunchtime now.” Jeonghan called.

He nodded and turned slowly. As he turned, someone came out of a room beside him, they were both distracted and ended up bumping into each other. It wasn’t a hard bump, just enough to make both parties stumble.

Seungkwan regained his footing, “Watch it!”

The other looked up from his papers, “Sorry, distracted.”

They looked at each other in silence for a moment, “Do you need something?” the other boy asked.

Seungkwan shook his head, “No, I’m leaving.”

The other boy watched Seungkwan walk away, wanting to say something else but chose not to when he noticed who Seungkwan’s friends were. Seungkwan was almost disappointed that he didn’t even bother to ask what the boy’s name was, but he was clearly a fire bender so he doubted the boy would even tell someone like him.

**Vernon**

He was glad his run in with that stranger didn’t cause him to drop the papers he was holding. His dad had asked him to deliver the papers to Soonyoung’s dad before he was allowed to go to lunch, and Vernon wanted to make sure he didn’t mess it up. Soonyoung’s dad could be scary sometimes.

He walked slowly to the great hall, where he was sure Soonyoung’s dad would be, trying to distract himself from sneaking a peek at the papers he was holding. His mind wandered to the boy from before, he had to be from the Water kingdom, which was unfortunate, but he looked cute. Vernon shook his head, no way did he just think someone from there was cute. It didn’t help that most of the men from both the Water and Air kingdoms were good looking, they all had that soft charm to them. He smacked his forehead, hoping that would remove those thoughts from his head once and for all. 

Now he needed a distraction from his distraction. He looked down at the papers again, noticing the words “suspects” and “Purple Lighting.” Now he really couldn’t distract himself from it, but if someone caught him looking at the papers, he would be in trouble. He couldn’t risk stopping to read any of it, and he couldn’t read while walking either, that would be just as obvious. 

Before walking in, he peeked into the great hall, just to be sure Soonyoung’s dad was actually there. Once he saw him, Vernon walked in and headed straight towards his table. 

“Excuse me, sir,” Vernon bowed slightly when he approached, “My father wanted me to give you this.”

Soonyoung’s father took the papers from Vernon and looked at them briefly, “Thank you, I will look over these after lunch. You’re dismissed.”

Vernon bowed again, then rushed over to his usual table. 

“What did you give my dad?” Soonyoung asked as he moved enough for Vernon to sit down.

“Just some papers, I think it’s initial reports from the attack earlier. Which reminds me,” Vernon nodded at Jihoon, “You have to go talk to him after lunch. He wanted you to go earlier, but there aren't enough guards down there to take your statement. Also, I’m supposed to say something to that water bender who was there too.”

Jihoon nodded, “He’s the one with the round face over there,” Jihoon pointed across the room to the boy he ran into earlier, “What’s his name again?”

“Boo something,” Soonyoung said, trailing off at the end as he tried to think.

“Seung...kwan, I think.” Seungcheol added, “I think that’s what prince Jeonghan called him.”

“Sounds right, but yeah, that’s who you’re looking for.” Jihoon agreed.

Vernon took a quick sip of water before getting up, “Be right back, I’ll go let him know before I forget.”

Everyone nodded as he walked away. Seungkwan was sitting with just one other person, the air bender that Soonyoung knew. As Vernon came up to the table, Seungkwan gave him an odd look.

“You’re Seungkwan, right?”

“Yes, and what about it?”

“You gotta go talk to my dad after lunch, he wants to ask you about the attack this morning.”

“Where do I go?”

“You were already there, just go back there and it’s the door on the left.”

“I don’t remember how we got there.”

“Jihoon is going too, he can take you.”

“He’s scary, can’t you take me?”

Vernon’s eyebrows shot up, “I mean, I can, if you really want that.”

“Yeah, I’ll meet you after I’m finished.”

Vernon turned to leave, but Seungkwan grabbed his hand before he walked away.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Vernon.” He almost burst into a grin, but tried his best to keep his composure. After all, he was talking to a water bender, and he technically wasn’t supposed to be happy about it. Although, deep down he was sort of glad Seungkwan asked for his name.

He left the water and air bender, walking quickly back to his table. He seamlessly joined in on their conversation, and he easily forgot about his interaction with Seungkwan. That was until Seungkwan came up to their table. Everyone stopped talking when they noticed him.

“I’m ready whenever you are.” Seungkwan said, acting like he didn’t recognize the tension he created at the table.

“I’ll be done in a few minutes,” Vernon said, when Seungkwan nodded and started walking away, he stopped him, “You can sit with us until then.”

“There isn’t much room, I can just wait outside the hall.” Seungkwan said, gesturing to the full seats.

Vernon looked next to him and moved closer to Soonyoung, making a small spot on the bench next to him, “There’s room.”

Seungkwan scoffed and laughed, “You’d be finished by now if you didn’t keep talking.”

Vernon shoved the rest of his bread in his mouth, “I can do both.”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes, but sat down next to Vernon nonetheless. Without thinking, Vernon grabbed Seungkwan’s hips and pulled him further onto the bench. The conversations picked back up quickly after that, Seungkwan even joined in after a minute or two. They almost forgot that he was a water bender. The group started breaking apart once Minghao and Mingyu decided they wanted to do something other than sit with the other princes. Soonyoung followed after them, leaving just Vernon, Jihoon, and Seungkwan sitting there. Vernon, despite having more room, didn’t move. He liked sitting close to Seungkwan even if they didn’t really know each other yet.

**Wonwoo**

Later that night, as Wonwoo was dressing for bed, his bell rang. In his room, there was a bell that connected his room and Mingyu’s, so if the prince needed anything during the night, he could just ring the bell. Mingyu rarely used it unless he really needed something. Wonwoo was only wearing his undergarments as the bell rang, so he quickly threw on his night shirt and bottoms before rushing to Mingyu's room.

Wonwoo quickly opened the door to see Mingyu, shirtless, with his back towards the door. Mingyu turned quickly and motioned for Wonwoo to come over quickly. As he approached the window, Mingyu pointed outside. "Look, is that Minghao and Soonyoung?"

Wonwoo looked closely and saw two people standing together, if they were kissing or not, he couldn't tell, but they did vaguely look like Minhao and Soonyoung.

"I'm not sure, it's dark so it's hard to tell." Wonwoo answered. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Wonwoo noticed Mingyu staring at him. Slowly, Wonwoo turned his head towards the prince and held his breath.

"They're dating, aren't they?" Mingyu asked.

Wonwoo shrugged, "I couldn't tell you that, Seungcheol never really mentions anything like that to me."

"But what if they are. Then it would be okay for a prince to be with someone that wasn't of royal descent, wouldn't it?"

Wonwoo swallowed hard, "Maybe in the Earth kingdom, but I'm not sure about everywhere else."

Mingyu looked disappointed but nodded and moved closer to Wonwoo, they stood facing each other for a few moments before Mingyu reached towards Wonwoo's waist. Wonwoo sucked in a breath, preparing himself to deliver bad news to his prince. But instead of trying to remove Wonwoo's pants, he tied the pants shut.

"It's kind of a shame that a prince can't really choose who he wants to be with." Mingyu said, his voice a whisper as he knotted the pant strings together.

"Mingyu?" Wonwoo asked in confusion..

"I've seen how you look at me when you don't think I notice." Mingyu said softly, his hands falling to his sides.

Wonwoo tried to laugh his statement off, “I think you misunderstand, I have to keep an eye on you as your gua-”

“Stop it, Wonwoo. You like me, don’t you?” Mingyu said, slightly louder and sounding more annoyed now. 

“I-I don’t know.” Wonwoo said honestly.

“What do you mean you don’t know? Isn’t liking someone pretty much black and white? You either like someone or you don’t, it’s that simple Wonwoo.”

“I don’t want you to think I’m disrespecting you by what I say next, but a lot of things in your life are very black and white and sometimes things just won’t be that simple. Liking a person isn’t simple, so it’s completely possible for me to feel confused about my feelings towards you. I am confused, Mingyu, I really don’t know how I feel.” Wonwoo said calmly.

“Well I know how I feel about you.” Mingyu said sternly as he grabbed Wonwoo’s shoulders and pulled him close, roughly kissing him.

Wonwoo quickly pushed him away, feeling embarrassed and upset at himself for not backing away sooner, “I’m sorry, this is wrong. Is there anything else I can do for you? I should get back to my room.”

Mingyu looked slightly hurt but shook his head and waved him away. Wonwoo rushed back to his room, sitting down on his bed and rubbing his face with his hands before laying back onto the bed. Absentmindedly, he touched his lips as he stared at the ceiling.

**Jihoon**

The four Earth kingdom boys were all sitting around in Minghao’s room that evening, this was after the four of them walked around the palace’s inner court. 

“So what exactly happened today?” Soonyoung asked, visibly holding Minghao’s hand tightly.

Jihoon shrugged, “I’m not sure really. I just remember traveling peacefully when all of a sudden these people jumped from the trees and started attacking the convoy. I think they were non-benders because they were using a lot of different types of weapons that benders don’t use.”

“It’s probably the Purple Lighting,” Seungcheol said, he was seated next to Jihoon with his arms crossed tightly. 

“I don't know anything about them, but these non-benders were pissed. I never realized how much they hated us.” Jihoon replied.

Soonyoung shrugged, “I guess we should probably start paying more attention to them in our own kingdom so something like this won’t happen there.”

“But we do pay attention to them!” Minghao said suddenly, “Since there’s a large population of non-benders living in the Earth kingdom, the council has a majority of non-benders. If there’s a complaint, the council brings it up and things actually get done.”

“Maybe it’s just the Fire kingdom that’s doing something wrong then.” Soonyoung said.

Jihoon shook his head, “No, I know the Water kingdom is having troubles with non-benders too and a lot more often than in any other kingdom. Soonyoung would know more about it than I would though, with his dad and all.”

Soonyoung shrugged, and shook his head. His dad never mentioned anything that was going on to him, he only knew the rumors he heard from other people.

“Why haven’t I heard about this stuff before?” Minghao asked.

“Probably because they just arrest anyone that tries to speak out.”

“Didn’t Jeonghan say that Mingyu’s father was tyrannical? It sort of seems like Jeonghan’s father is more tyrannical than Mingyu’s.” Minghao said.

“I think it’s a bad idea to speak ill of another king or prince. Jeonghan may not know what’s actually going on, so perhaps we should shift the conversation.” Seungcheol said quickly, looking towards the door.

“I actually have a question. Not about this topic but,” Jihoon said, not looking up from the ground as he spoke, “does anyone know the name of that boy from the Air kingdom?”

“Which one? The prince or his friend?” Minghao asked.

“I know the prince’s name, I’m not an idiot, I meant his friend.” Jihoon snapped.

Both Minghao and Seungcheol shrugged but Soonyoung sighed deeply, “His name is Junhui.”

Minghao quickly looked at Soonyoung, “How do you know?”

“Well, because I helped him find the great hall this morning. He seems like a nice guy but I think he’s in love with me or something.” Soonyoung explained, shrugging at the end of his statement.

“What?!” Both Minghao and Jihoon exclaimed.

Soonyoung jumped slightly, looking between both Minghao and Jihoon in confusion. “You know, I can understand why Minghao would be upset about someone else being in love with me, but why are you so bothered by it Jihoon?”

Jihoon blushed, and tried to laugh it off, “O-oh, no reason, I was just surprised, that’s all.”

The three others gave him a doubtful look, “Alright, that’s not it.” Seungcheol said, arching his eyebrows.

“You think that Air kingdom boy is attractive, don’t you?” Soonyoung asked, leaning forward.

“N-no! That’s ridiculous! Of course not,” Jihoon tried to laugh but it came out sounding very awkward and forced, “I mean, he is from the Air kingdom after all.”

“If you like him, who cares what kingdom he’s from.” Seungcheol added, always trying to be the voice of reason.

Jihoon sighed loudly, “Let it go, I’m going to bed.” He got up and left the room, angrily walking to his room. As he was walking, he passed by someone standing in the middle of the hallway, their body language practically saying they were extremely confused. Jihoon almost didn’t stop but decided that he should try to be nice for once. “Do you need any help?” He asked.

The person spun around and Jihoon was now face-to-face with the Air kingdom boy he had just gotten finished talking about.

“I keep getting lost and someone from the Earth kingdom is always trying to help me.” Junhui laughed, “I guess you guys aren’t as bad as everyone says.”

Jihoon tried not to smile, “Instead of talking about where I’m from, is there somewhere I can take you?”

Junhui nodded, “I can’t find my room, I went somewhere with Joshua and then he just left me to find my way back…”

“I think I know where those from the Air kingdom are staying, follow me.” Jihoon said, motioning for Junhui to follow him.

Junhui followed him closely, “What’s your name? I met someone named Soonyoung earlier, he was nice.”

“I’m Lee Jihoon and Soonyoung already told me your name.”

“Oh? He was talking about me?” Junhui asked, the tone in his voice jumped to excitement very quickly.

Jihoon wanted to punch himself for mentioning it, and needed a way to recover “Well he only said anything because I asked what your name was.”

“Why were you asking about me? We only just met.”

Again, Jihoon wanted to take back his words, “I saw you earlier, when we were all in that room.”

Junhui laughed, “That’s right! You were the one making a fuss.”

“Yeah,” Jihoon laughed awkwardly, “That was me wasn’t it.”

There were a few moments of silence before Junhui spoke again, “If it means anything, you are much better looking when you’re not upset.”

Jihoon’s entire face went red, “O-oh, thanks… by the way, which room is yours? This is the Air kingdom's wing."

"Are you going to walk me to my room?" Junhui asked, standing next to Jihoon now.

"I don't have to, but I can if you want me to." Jihoon replied, hoping his blush wasn't too obvious. 

Junhui walked down the hall and Jihoon followed almost like he was in a trance, and they stopped in front of an open door, "Well this is it, thank you for helping me Jihoon, I wish I could give you something as a thank-you."

"No, that's alright, don't worry about it."

Without warning, Junhui took Jihoon's hand and kissed it. Jihoon stood in shock as Junhui let go of his hand and went into his room, shutting the door tightly behind him.

He suddenly heard someone sigh deeply from behind him, "Junhui seems to attract all the wrong guys."

Jihoon turned to see Joshua standing a few feet away from him, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Joshua held up his hands, "I didn't mean that to be rude to you, I probably should have just kept my mouth shut..."

"Well since you said it, I would like to hear what you meant, your highness."

"He's just always falling for someone just out of reach, now it's two different boys from the Earth kingdom." Joshua explained.

"Oh, okay." Jihoon stammered.

Joshua shrugged and walked to his room, "Oh, if he does happen to fall for you, and you aren't interested, please let him down easy, He's my friend and I hate seeing him upset." 

Jihoon had no time to respond as Joshua had already walked into his room and shut the door. He wasn't even sure if he himself liked Junhui, he did think Junhui was good looking but Jihoon knew that looks were less important than how a person actually acted. He started to walk back to the Earth kingdom's hall, walking rather slow as he was still trying to wrap his head around what just happened. 

As he reached the hallway, Jihoon noticed Soonyoung walking to his room. He called out to his friend.

Soonyoung turned and looked towards Jihoon looking rather confused, "I thought you were already in your room, where did you go?"

"Oh, Junhui was lost so I helped him to his room." Jihoon explained, stepping closer to Soonyoung.

"Oh that was nice of you, do you think you got him to not be in love with me anymore?"

"I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that." Jihoon said simply.

Soonyoung gave a sigh of relief, "That's good, I've never been good at breaking hearts. What makes you so sure about it anyway?"

Jihoon smiled to himself and shrugged, "Just a feeling."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This are gonna get spicy soon :) I can't wait for next week's chapter, it's got everything from cute romance, to angst, to yearning, to sleep-deprived shenanigans. Hopefully you all liked this chapter though! My Twitter is "baybehbrenton" if you still wanna see what I'm up to between updates, but until then, see you in a week!


	4. Ch.4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content / trigger warning: mentions of (child) emotional/physical abuse. It's in Jeonghan's section, with slight mentions after.

**Jihoon**

The next morning, there was a knock at Jihoon's door that startled him awake. Slowly, he rose from his bed and went to the door, opening it slightly just to see who it was.

"Are you Lee Jihoon?" The person asked.

Now, Jihoon opened the door fully to see a large Air kingdom guard standing in the doorway, "And what if I am?"

"Wen Junhui asked me to deliver this note to you." He replied, pulling a small piece of paper from his pocket and handing it to Jihoon.

He took the note cautiously, thanking the guard before shutting the door. He went over to his bed, sat down and unfolded the paper. 'Please meet me in the garden after the midday meal today, this is one of the only places I know how to get to. I would like to get to know you better. Please come.' Jihoon stared at the note for a few more moments in disbelief. No one had ever sent him a rendezvous note before, especially not one that asked to meet up in a garden. He wasn't sure if he should go or not, but he would decide moments before the time to meet up; he shoved the note under his pillow and proceeded to dress.

At breakfast, he was joined by Soonyoung, Vernon, Wonwoo and Seungcheol. He sat silently, vaguely listening to their conversations. He would nod occasionally without really hearing what was said, hoping he wasn’t agreeing to anything in the process. At one point, when the meal was mostly finished, Vernon tapped on Jihoon’s arm.

“Are you alright? You’ve been quieter than usual.” He asked.

Jihoon looked up to see all their eyes on him, “Oh, yeah, I’m fine, just thinking really.”

“Oh? Thinking about what?” Seungcheol asked.

Jihoon shrugged, “Nothing important.” 

Everyone, except for Soonyoung, nodded. 

“You and Wonwoo are acting weird this morning, did you two do something last night?” Soonyoung asked, mainly as a joke.

“Wonwoo?!” Jihoon snapped suddenly, loud enough that it turned a few heads, one prince in particular turned as well.

Wonwoo was pulled from his daze at the shout too, “What?”

“I said,” Soonyoung leaned in now, “Did you two do something last night? You’re both acting odd.”

“Nothing between us,” Wonwoo said simply, shaking his head.

“Then what happened to you?” Jihoon asked.

“You first,” Wonwoo replied, smiling a little.

“Tired, now you.”

“Fine, then I’m tired too.” Wonwoo shot back.

“I love conversations that go nowhere!” Vernon said, laying the sarcasm on thick.

“Let’s leave them alone for now, eventually we’ll figure out what’s going on.” Seungcheol cut in, but he still gave both Jihoon and Wonwoo odd looks.

**Jeonghan**

After breakfast, his father told him that he needed to join a meeting, and that if he did not join there would be some sort of consequence. Jeonghan didn’t need to be told twice, apologizing to Seungkwan that he would not be able to walk through the garden with him that morning. He was glad that Joshua came to the meeting, there would at least be someone with him to keep him awake.

The other princes were present, but the pairs kept their distance from each other. At least, as Jeonghan noticed, they both were in a much better mood this morning; two days ago must have been a rare occurrence. They could get back to their regularly scheduled bickering as soon as the kings weren’t around.

The meeting began once the Fire king sat. He immediately asked someone with the last name of Chwe to speak, apparently this was the kingdom’s warden. He had conducted the interviews of all those attacked yesterday and had some troubling findings to report.

“To start, it is obvious this attack was mounted by the anti-bender group, Purple Lightning. Their symbol was painted on one of the overturned carriages. We had been doing a slight investigation into their activities after receiving a report that they had come to the Fire kingdom, but we had not predicted they would have launched any attacks so soon.” The man said, his voice was clear, but not very loud.

“And what,” Jeonghan’s father suddenly spoke out, “are you planning on doing about these  _ vermin. _ ”

For some reason, Jeonghan’s face flushed. Joshua immediately grabbed Jeonghan’s hand tighter, the small action did not go unnoticed by the Fire and Earth princes. 

“We have tightened security at the border as well as the castle gate for now, your highness.”

Jeonghan’s father grumbled, “That’s it? If I may, and I don’t mean to offend you King Kim by this, but in the Water kingdom, we have done a much better job of controlling them. I would suggest rounding up the non-benders and questioning all of them. Someone knows something, and they’ll talk if pushed enough.”

The Fire king shook his head, “I appreciate the suggestion, but that is not how we do things here. Are there any confirmed suspects to be arrested?”

The warden shook his head, “Unfortunately, they all wore masks so no witnesses could describe who attacked them. The weapons, on the other hand, were described in detail. We are looking into anyone who had purchased the supplies to make the bombs.”

“Your way will take too long, and I for one am not willing to sit around and wait for the next attack.” Jeonghan’s father snapped, slamming a hand on the table.

Jeonghan jumped, and sighed softly. 

“If we do things your way, we could expect another attack sooner!” The Earth king shot back, “We can't rush something like this. They want something, and we need to be able to listen.”

“King Xu is right,” the Air king finally spoke, and looked to the Fire king, “If we can assist in the investigation in any way, just ask and I will see to it. However, I want to guarantee everyone’s safety, and perhaps it would be best to move a little faster on this. You mentioned that someone had gone to their rally, did they get any sort of name?”

The warden shook his head, “Nothing we can work with, the only name was ‘DK,’ but that isn’t in any of our records. We aren’t even sure what his name could be.”

“Did he say where he originally came from?” King Hong asked, sounding slightly more annoyed now.

“The… water kingdom, I believe.”

Jeonghan’s entire body tightened, he knew his father wasn’t going to react well to that information. Especially considering how he ran the kingdom, he was so proud that there wasn’t much dissent left and hearing that their biggest threat came from his own kingdom was going to set him off like a bomb.

“That’s impossible!” King Yoon shouted, standing up so harshly that his chair fell over, “There is no way this person would have left the Water kingdom alive.”

The warden didn’t even flinch and Jeonghan wished for his demeanor, “That’s what was reported.”

“Who said that? They are lying, I’ll have to talk to them myself. They were probably some Fire kingdom runt who wants to see us fail!”

The Fire king now slammed his hand on the table, “We will not have you intimidate witnesses in our investigation. We should all be on the same side in this matter, what kind of example are you setting for your son by acting like this?”

Instinctively, Jeonghan straightened and let go of Joshua’s hand. The Water king turned his body towards his son, but refused to look at him, “Do not question my ability to raise my own son. At least he doesn’t have a weak father.”

“You are so bold to insult the king who is graciously hosting you and your own.” The Earth king stepped in, standing now as well.

“Typical of you to look past his actions to attack me, I can tell this meeting will be going nowhere so I will leave. If you decide to stop being weak, then I will be interested in returning.” Jeonghan’s father now turned and grabbed Jeonghan’s arm roughly, yanking him from the chair. Jeonghan’s face never changed and he made no noise despite the pain in his shoulder from the movement.

No one stopped them as they left, the Air king even sat silently. Jeonghan was pulled from the meeting room all the way back to his room, where his father pushed him inside. He fell to the floor and quickly scrambled to get up again.

“You will not be associating with anyone from any of the other kingdoms until they come to their senses.” His father shouted.

“Wha-”

“You are not even permitted to see that Air kingdom boy!” His father’s face was red with rage as he slammed the door shut.

Jeonghan stood frozen as he listened to his father’s footsteps walking away. He didn’t dare breath too loudly, and he slowly lifted his sleeve where his father had held his arm. It was already swollen, and he knew it would end up bruising. He walked over to the chair and sat down, cracking a slight smile despite his situation.

At least someone would believe him when he said his father was a wretched man.

There was a knock on the door. It had to be Seungkwan, Jeonghan’s mother never came to comfort him after his father had a blow-up. Honestly, he couldn’t remember the last time she even smiled in his direction. The door opened slightly, and Seungkwan poked his head in.

“Should I come in?”

Jeonghan nodded, and smiled, “Yeah, let’s talk.”

As Seungkwan came over, he pointed at Jeonghan’s bare arm, “Do you want me to help with that?”

Jeonghan looked at his arm and debated for a moment. “Yeah, probably a good idea.”

Seungkwan grabbed the pitcher of water from the dresser and sat down on the floor in front of Jeonghan, “Does it hurt?”

He shook his head, “No, I think I’m used to it by now.”

The other looked up, he looked like he was going to cry, “I hate that he’s like that.”

Jeonghan shrugged, “It is what it is.”

Seungkwan bended the water around Jeonghan’s forearm and began the healing process, “What happened this time?”

“No one listened to his ideas, and he yelled at the Fire king and got told off about it.”

“And now  _ you’re  _ grounded.”

“Yep.”

They were silent until Seungkwan finished. He splashed the water onto the floor, whether this was accidental or purposeful was unknown. 

“And Joshua?” Seungkwan asked, his voice a whisper.

“I can’t even see him.”

“Do you think your father knows what you two are planning?”

“Not explicitly, but I think he knows something’s coming. But with everything going on, I think we’ll have to put a hold on it.”

Seungkwan stood up, “I’ll kill those purple bastards for you.”

Jeonghan let out a genuine laugh.

**Junhui**

The Air kingdom boy sat on a stone bench in the middle of the Fire kingdom’s garden, waiting anxiously. He was sitting with his hands tucked under his thighs as his legs bounced repeatedly. Earlier, he had spoken with Joshua about how he had sent the Earth kingdom boy a note, asking him to meet in the garden. Joshua was very encouraging but also warned Junhui to not get too attached because of how things usually go when he falls in too quickly. But Junhui was remaining optimistic, as he usually did until he proved that he had no chance with whomever it was that he fell for.

It felt as if he had been waiting a long time and he was starting to think that Jihoon would never show up, until he heard someone walking towards him. He looked up slowly and saw that it was Jihoon. He tried to hide his excitement but from the look on Jihoon’s face, he could tell that he wasn’t doing a very good job.

“Sorry for taking so long, I had a hard time getting away from the others without telling them everything.” Jihoon said, taking a seat next to Junhui on the bench.

“What did you end up telling them?” Junhui asked nervously.

“I told them that I was tired and wanted to go rest again.” Jihoon replied.

They sat silently for a few moments, Junhui chewing on the inside of his lip, trying to think of something to say to Jihoon now, “I’m sorry I’m not very good at holding a conversation, I’m very nervous, I hope you understand.”

“Why would you be nervous, it’s just me.” Jihoon said.

“Well, that’s why, you’re you and very intimidating to be perfectly honest.”

“Is it because of the safe room thing? Because if it is, I was just having a rough day, and I don’t-”

Junhui let out a concerned laugh, “No! Well, yes, but you just look intimidating most of the time. I mean, your face is sort of solid.” He was making it worse, “I mean it’s very neutral! When you are just looking, you look upset or tired!”

Jihoon stared at him blankly for a moment, processing all the words Junhui just let loose. He broke into a smile and laughed. An incredibly relieving moment for Junhui, who normally did not struggle as much talking to men.

“Are you always like this?” Jihoon asked, his posture relaxing.

“No, I promise I’m not.” 

“Okay, I’ll believe that.”

They eased into a semi-awkward getting-to-know-you conversation, and they realized that, while there wasn’t too much they already had in common, they got along well. The conversation shifted from that forced feeling of small talk to an actual conversation after only a few moments. Junhui started talking with Jihoon like they had known each other for awhile, and Jihoon didn’t mind. He seemed to be enjoying himself.

They ended up losing track of time, the only indication was the guards changing. That meant it was time for supper. 

“I don’t want to end this, but maybe we should go in.” Jihoon said, gesturing towards the castle.

Junhui stood up, “Maybe I could sit with you and your friends tonight?”

Jihoon made a confused sound, “What about your other friend?”

“He could sit with us too, he already knows that fire bender.”

Jihoon nodded slowly, “They do get along in a way. I mean, if you want to, we can ask them if you two can join us.”

**Joshua**

He had an idea. If he wasn’t allowed to see Jeonghan, he would simply have to find a way to do it anyway. It was getting closer to supper, and he had stolen a Water kingdom guard uniform, including a helmet that hung over his eyes. It didn’t quite fit perfectly, but he knew he just looked like a new recruit. He walked to the kitchen, and was unfortunately met with two other Water kingdom guards who were already waiting.

“What are you doing here?” The one asked.

For half a moment, Joshua thought he had been caught, “I just got put in charge of taking the prince’s meal to him.”

The guards looked at each other, “But I was assigned to it already.”

“You can go on break, the King told me to relieve you.” Joshua was hoping they wouldn’t see through him, he was sweating.

The guard sighed happily, “I’ve been on duty since this morning, I’ll just go get off my feet for a while. Did he say how long?”

Joshua panicked, “I think till dinner’s over.”

“Well, that’s better than nothing. Thanks.” The guard walked off, his shoulders slumping in relief.

Joshua turned to the side, and prayed the other guard wouldn’t notice that he was, in fact, Joshua Hong and not some Water kingdom guard. The two didn’t speak, they waited for the kitchen staff to pull the trays together in complete silence. When he finally grabbed the tray, it was heavy and his upper body strength was not built for this type of endurance.

He held back from the other guard, walking behind him just enough that he was able to float the tray enough that it took a little of the weight off his own hands. There was a bit of an issue when he finally reached Jeonghan’s door, he had to shift the tray onto one hand to knock without knocking anything over, but he managed.

Jeonghan yelled to come in, and Joshua kept his head down while he came in. He knew Seungkwan was in the room as well, he recognized the other’s voice very well.

“I have your supper, your highness.” Joshua said, kicking the door shut behind him.

“Could you put it on the dresser?” Jeonghan replied, not moving from his chair, but gesturing to the table behind him.

As he walked by, Joshua was sure to keep his head down. Once he was sure he was passed, he then lifted his head, placing the tray onto the surface lightly. He took the helmet off, and tucked it under his arm.

He turned and made eye contact with Seungkwan, who immediately made a face that was filled with excitement. Jeonghan turned around in his seat to see why Seungkwan was so excited, his face brightened immediately as he jumped out of the chair to hug Joshua.

Joshua kissed Jeonghan’s cheek in greeting, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Jeonghan was holding Joshua tightly.

“Did he hurt you?” 

“Not badly, Seungkwan already healed it.”

Joshua looked over Jeonghan’s shoulder and mouthed a quick thank you. He patted Jeonghan’s head, “I can’t stay long, I shouldn’t miss dinner, but I wanted to check on you.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course. Is there anything I can do before I leave?”

Jeonghan pulled away slowly, “No, I’ll be okay.”

Joshua cupped Jeonghan’s face and kissed him gently, “I’ll try to get my dad to talk to yours if you want, he shouldn’t leave you locked in here. You did nothing wrong.”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t, I think that would just make him worse.”

Joshua nodded, pressing their foreheads together for a second, “I should go.”

Jeonghan reluctantly let him go, and Joshua put the helmet back on.

“Take Seungkwan with you,” Jeonghan said before Joshua could walk away.

Seungkwan almost protested, but his growling stomach made him think differently. He promised he would come back after dinner, but Jeonghan told him he wanted to be alone after supper.

**Soonyoung**

Was he hearing things? Did Lee Jihoon just ask if a boy from the air kingdom and a boy from the water kingdom could join them for dinner? He must have heard wrong, but then why were they standing at their table waiting for a response? Was it a shared hallucination, perhaps, considering everyone at the table was also stunned.

Seungcheol spoke up first, “Sure, there’s plenty of room.”

Soonyoung’s head snapped towards the guard, he  _ agreed _ ? 

“Seungkwan can sit here,” Vernon said, adding insult to injury by gesturing to the space between him and Soonyoung.

He thought the one day when Seungkwan sat with them for 10 minutes would have been the first and only time, but it was happening again. And now, Seungkwan was sitting next to him, while Junhui was across from him.

“Since when have you all been friends?” Soonyoung asked, finally breaking out of his daze.

“We hung out for awhile today.” Jihoon replied simply, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

“All three of you?” Vernon asked, pausing a moment and glancing at Seungkwan.

“No, just Junhui and I did.”

Soonyoung let out a breath of relief, not even trying to hide it. Junhui looked at him with a confused expression.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

Soonyoung nodded and relaxed, “I thought you had a crush on me or something.”

“I still might!” Junhui said jokingly.

Soonyoung choked, “Huh?”

Everyone at the table sucked in a breath, waiting for either Soonyoung or Junhui to say the next thing. Seungkwan, on the other hand, wasn’t affected by the comment. Junhui had a weird sense of humor.

Junhui looked around the table, “I was joking.”

Everyone let out their breath at the same time, Wonwoo, Seungcheol and Vernon tried to laugh it off as if they knew it was a joke the whole time. 

**Mingyu**

Joshua was sitting across from him and Minghao, nervously picking at his supper. Dinner had been a bit better even though Jeonghan was missing, but Joshua’s mood had dropped a lot since then.

“Joshua,” Mingyu said, “Are you alright?”

Joshua looked up and smiled weakly, “Fine, just thinking.”

“Have you seen Jeonghan since this morning?” Mingyu asked, assuming Joshua was bothered by that.

The other looked over his shoulder quickly, “Yeah, but I wasn’t supposed to .”

Mingyu and Minghao both made a confused noise, leaning in to get some more information.

“Well, you two already saw how pissed his dad was when he left. He decided to ban anyone that wasn’t from the Water kingdom from seeing him until there’s an apology or something.” Joshua explained, leaning in as well, his voice low.

“Apology from who?” Mingyu asked.

“Everyone I guess, I don’t really know. He isn’t very clear about these things.”

“Even from your dad?” Minghao asked now.

Joshua shrugged, “Like I said, he isn’t clear. I bet he wants that as well, since my dad didn’t defend him or anything. It’s just stupid. I mean, even I’m banned? I guess I get it, Jeonghan’s dad doesn’t actually like me that much.”

Mingyu almost laughed, “Why not?”

“He thinks I’m going to take his son away, and then he’s going to have to pass the throne to Jeonghan’s sister. The first queen in the Water kingdom” Joshua stated, rolling his eyes.

“I didn’t even know he had a sister.” Minghao commented, sounding surprised, “I guess it’s like your sister.”

“You have one too?” Joshua asked.

Mingyu nodded, “She doesn’t live here though, she’s going to a school outside of the city limits. Also, she actually isn’t able to fire bend so my parents sent her to a school where she wouldn’t feel bad about it.”

Joshua sighed, “She’s lucky, Jeonghan’s sister can bend, but she’s pretty much locked away from the world. I feel bad for her, we’ve never actually had a full conversation because their dad makes sure no one knows she’s around.”

“Why?” Mingyu couldn’t understand why they would keep her a secret, even though his own sister wasn’t around, his parents brought her up a lot, plus she came to visit every so often. He found it hard to believe that a parent could just hide their own kid away.

“She’s a girl.” Joshua said simply.

“I thought girls were really highly respected in the Water kingdom.” Minghao said.

Joshua shook his head slightly, “Yes and no. In the general public they are, but the king still kind of hates women. I heard him call me a woman once to Jeonghan, I wasn’t supposed to hear it obviously, but it happens.”

Mingyu grimaced, “He’s horrible.”

“Now I feel bad for being mean to him.” Minghao added softly.

Joshua laughed awkwardly, “It’s okay, I mean he gets the whole banter thing. You guys aren’t actually being mean.”

Minghao tilted his head, “If you say so. I think I’ve been kinda mean.”

“Me too.” Mingyu agreed, “Maybe we should be nicer.”

Joshua blinked, “I’ll have to tell Jeonghan about this.”

Mingyu and Minghao nodded, and Mingyu broke into a laugh. 

“His dad’s gonna be really pissed when he finds out we are actually going to try getting along.” Mingyu explained.

Joshua nodded, “Yeah, but that’s not the only thing he’s going to be pissed about in the coming future.”

“What are you planning?” Mingyu was intrigued again, Joshua was actually an interesting guy. He said things that made people want to hear more.

But instead of answering, Joshua waved him off and stood, “You’ll find out when it happens.”

**Wonwoo**

He tried falling asleep that night, but whenever he closed his eyes he would see Mingyu’s face so close to his and he would feel their lips pressed against each other. He opened his eyes to the darkness of his room; snapping his fingers together to create a small flame then flicking it to the candle on his nightstand. He grabbed the book that he was reading and propped himself up against the headboard. The plan was to read until he fell asleep.

That plan, of course, did not work. He barely made it 2 pages in before he heard his door open. He didn’t even put his book down as he created a small ball of fire in his palm, “Who is it?”

“Mingyu.”

He extinguished the flame as the figure stepped into the room. It was a weird sight for Wonwoo, since the candle didn’t give off much light, and he remained slightly skeptical until Mingyu’s face was illuminated by the flame. 

“Are you alright?” Wonwoo put the book down now, tossing another small flame to another candle.

Mingyu sat on the edge of the bed, he was fully dressed, which was odd considering the time, “I’m bored.”

“And what are you planning on doing about that?” Wonwoo suddenly felt nervous, he noticed the way Mingyu was looking at him with the half smile plastered on his face.

“I’m going out.”

“No, you have to stay in the castle.”

“It’s nighttime,” Mingyu said, jumping up and rushing over to Wonwoo’s dresser, “Let’s go.”

Wonwoo stood up and rushed over to him, grabbing Mingyu’s arm to stop him, “It’s too risky.”

“That’s why I’m taking you with me,” Mingyu said, smiling and pulling his arm away to continue rummaging through Wonwoo’s clothes.

“You know I’m going to tell you no,” Wonwoo said, trying to stop him again.

This time, Mingyu pushed him back, “But I still told you, and since you can’t stop me, you’re just going to have to follow me.”

Wonwoo was getting annoyed now, he was already having trouble sleeping because of Mingyu, now he was never going to fall asleep for the same reason, “I’m taking you back to your room.”

He grabbed the prince’s arm and pulled him out of the room and back to his own. Wonwoo tossed Mingyu onto the bed, “Now get to sleep, I’m going to stay here to make sure you don’t end up sneaking out anyway.”

“I’m not wearing my pajamas, I’m supposed to sleep in this? I need to change.” Mingyu said, standing up.

Wonwoo’s eyes widened, “No, you can sleep in that.”

Mingyu smirked, “They’re not comfortable to sleep in, I should change. If you’re planning on staying in here with me, then I guess I’ll have to change in front of you.”

As the prince started to take his shirt off, Wonwoo stopped him, “Why are you doing this? I thought we already talked about it.”

Mingyu was annoyed now, “What? You told me to go to bed, and now I’m getting changed.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Fine,” Mingyu huffed and sat back on the bed.

Wonwoo walked over to a chair and sat down, starting to feel tired again, “Good night, Mingyu.”

Mingyu only huffed again in response, shifting on the bed. The room was dim, Mingyu didn’t extinguish the candle by his dresser, and Wonwo decided to leave it burning so he could still see. Mingyu threw his sheets over him and turned on his side, away from Wonwoo. From where he was sitting, Wonwoo was able to see all the curves and shapes on Mingyu’s body. He wanted to look away, but couldn’t stop from staring. The way Mingyu’s shoulders rose and fell with each breath was almost hypnotic. Without realizing it, his own breathing matched up with Mingyu’s and his eyes started to feel heavy.

He must have drifted off because the next moment, he was being startled awake by Mingyu saying his name. Wonwoo’s eyes opened quickly and he looked to the bed, but Mingyu wasn’t there. He panicked, looking around the room wildly, there was a figure in the window. Wonwoo jumped up and realized that it wasn’t some random person, but Mingyu was literally outside his own window.

“Come get me.” Mingyu said, and his head suddenly disappeared.

Wonwoo ran to the window and leaned over the edge, Mingyu had somehow gotten a rope long enough to reach the bottom of the castle wall from his room and he was currently scaling the side. Wonwoo groaned loudly, wishing in that instance he could have been any other bender but fire so he could easily whisk the prince back up to his room. He cautiously threw one leg over the ledge and grabbed the rope tightly before swinging the other leg out. 

They were bound to get caught, there were other guards wandering the grounds at night. Somehow, though, Mingyu managed to make it to the ground and halfway across the field without being caught. Wonwoo dropped off the rope a few feet from the ground and took off running after the prince. He still had to make it over the castle’s walls, and there was no way he was going to be able to do that. 

Unless there was.

Wonwoo groaned for what felt like the millionth time that night. This wasn’t the first time Mingyu had snuck out at night apparently, but this was the first time he pulled Wonwoo along, and he was about to learn how he got out before. Apparently, it was a joint mission with Minghao because there was a hidden hole in the wall, barely hidden by a bush. They would both have to crouch to get through.

Mingyu was waiting a few yards away from the tunnel as Wonwoo exited, and he was laughing.

“Mingyu, we have to go back right now!” Wonwoo snapped, hoping someone would have heard him.

Mingyu shook his head and turned to run off again. Wonwoo grunted this time, his lungs screaming for him to stop, but he couldn’t stop until he had grabbed Mingyu and brought him back where it was safer. 

They made it into the village, and Mingyu finally slowed down enough for Wonwoo to grab him.

“Isn’t it nice?” Mingyu asked, resisting Wonwoo pulling him.

“We have to get back.”

“No, we’re already out, let’s walk around. You’ve never seen the village at night, right?”

“I did back in training camp, let’s just go back. It’s not safe.”

Mingyu spun around, “You’re with me.”

“That’s not the point!” 

Mingyu shook him off, “I want to walk around with you.”

Wonwoo resisted the urge to yell, “Please, just-”

“If you ask me to go back one more time, I’ll run away again and I’ll scream this time.” Mingyu snapped.

As Wonwoo was going to respond, a group of people stumbled out of the nearest building. One boy, who looked to be about Mingyu’s age, pointed at them.

“What’s going on here?” He asked.

“Nothing,” Wonwoo answered, then he pulled Mingyu closer to whisper, “We really should go.”

“Is he bothering you?” He moved closer, causing Wonwoo to pull Mingyu into his chest. 

Mingyu suddenly put his arm around Wonwoo’s waist, “No, just a little argument.”

“Well, if you ever get tired of fighting with your boyfriend, just find me. I’m Lee Seokmin,” he stuck his hand out to them.

Mingyu didn’t take it, “He’s not my boyfriend.” His voice sounded a bit sour.

Seokmin put his hands up, “Fair, I just thought he was with how protective he is of you. Plus, I don’t usually see two men that close.”

Wonwoo, taking the hint, tried to move Mingyu’s hand from his wait, but the prince’s grip was tight. At least this Seokmin person didn’t seem to have any idea who they were, or if he did, he was good at pretending. “We really have to get home, maybe we’ll see you two around.” Wonwoo offered a smile, which Seokmin returned.

“Sure.” Seokmin nodded as they went their separate ways.

Before they made even a few feet away, however, a horn blasted from the castle. Wonwoo knew exactly what that was a signal for. They realized Mingyu was missing. Suddenly there was a lot of movement in the streets.

“The prince is missing!” Someone shouted, and a chorus of the same statement followed.

Wonwoo turned his head slightly, seeing Seokmin still standing in the street looking back at them now. Seokmin’s eyes narrowed, and he took a slight step towards them. Wonwoo’s training kicked in, he squatted slightly and threw Mingyu over his shoulder. The prince was only a little taller than him, so the positioning was slightly awkward for the both of them. The guard started running back towards the castle. 

He wouldn’t be able to make it through the same tunnel as before, so the only way back was through the front gates. 

“Put me down!” Mingyu shouted, pounding on Wonwoo’s back, “I can walk!”

Wonwoo turned his head slightly to make sure no one had followed them. Seeing no one, he set Mingyu down.

“Do we have to go back?” 

“Did you not hear the horn? They know you’re gone, it’d make everything worse to stay out longer. Your parents would be worried sick.” Wonwoo was in disbelief over how the prince was acting right now. He grabbed Mingyu’s wrist and pulled him along.

Mingyu complained the entire way to the gate. He finally quieted when he realized he was going into the castle whether he wanted to or not. A guard noticed them approaching, and pointed and shouted to the other. Another horn sounded before the pair made it to the archway.

“What happened?” a guard asked, stopping them before they could enter.

“He let himself out,” Wonwoo said, glaring at Mingyu briefly.

“How’d you know he got out?” The guard looked confused.

“Long story, I’m taking him back to his room.” Wonwoo pulled Mingyu again.

**Seokmin**

“So that was the Fire kingdom’s prince?” Seokmin asked aloud.

“And we just let them get away?” Someone asked.

“There wasn’t anything we could do, we’re all unarmed and there already was too much attention. If we tried anything, we would have gotten caught.” Seokmin swung his arm above his head and turned, “Let’s get back, we’ve got work to do.”

“What are we going to do about them?” Someone else asked, walking behind Seokmin.

“Who? Those Fire kingdom brats? We’re going to do nothing for now.”

“Nothing?” They grabbed Seokmin’s arm now.

“If we move too quickly, there’s too much room for error. We could get caught, and then everything falls apart.” Seokmin said, shaking his arm out of their grip.

Their safe house was on the edge of the village, in an area where Fire kingdom guards rarely patrolled. There wasn’t much to see, just more lines of houses that desperately needed some extra attention, but it was otherwise fine looking. The house the Purple Lightning had claimed had been abandoned for years, and since no one wanted to claim it there was also no one to tell them not to set up shop there.

The neighbors, a mix of benders and non-benders, would only say nice things about the group of boys who moved in. No one asked too many questions, nor would they talk about them in any sort of way that wasn’t a brief comment about nothing important. They didn’t even find it particularly odd or alarming that once they moved in, there had been an attack on some benders. No one was planning on going to the authorities with their location, just in case they got the wrong group.

The door to the house was slightly broken, Seokmin had to turn the handle and lift to open it. He had no intention of getting it fixed. The floorboards creaked with every step, and there was a distinct musty smell no matter how many windows they threw open to get rid of it. Everyone slept on sleeping bags on the floor, which they were all used to at that point, and the kitchen was barely functional. But it was a roof over their heads, and a place to get their supplies and weapons ready; more than they probably needed.

While the rest of the group climbed the stairs to unroll their sleeping bags for the night, Seokmin went to the back porch and sat on the ground. He felt lonely most of the time, but the one time he didn’t feel as alone as he should have been was when he was actually by himself. Even though he was close with most of the people in the group, they all treated him differently now than in the beginning. Now he was the leader, he had different responsibilities, and no time to actually relax. Killing benders was going to take a lot more effort than he had expected.

He laid back, hand cushioning his head, and stared up at the sky. The sky looked different everywhere they went.


	5. Ch.5

**Wonwoo**

Before he could take the prince back to his room, another guard in the castle informed them that the king and queen wanted to talk. The outside alarm may have only sounded for a few minutes, but the castle would have been searched before that; the king and queen must have been awake, and worried, for a while.

Mingyu was dragging his feet as Wonwoo pulled him to his parent’s room, complaining about how much he didn’t want to talk to them right now. Wonwoo almost turned and snapped at him, but decided it wasn’t worth it. He had been trying that all night but it hadn’t worked yet, so he doubted it would work now.

As they approached the room, a guard knocked on the door and opened it for the two to walk in. As soon as Mingyu’s mother saw her son, she rushed over and hugged him, checking to make sure he hadn’t been injured. His father, on the other hand, stood in the middle of the room, his shoulders square and jaw set. Once his mother finished doting, it was his father’s turn to change the mood.

“What happened? They said they found a rope hanging from your window, did someone try to kidnap you?” His father asked, his voice almost made it seem like he already knew the answers to his questions.

“No, nothing like that.” Mingyu said casually.

“Then what was it? Speak honestly.”

Mingyu shrugged, “I was tired of being in the castle, so I went to the village.”

His father groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, “You know why you’re being kept inside, it’s too dangerous!”

“Yeah, and that’s why I brought Wonwoo with me.”

Both the king and queen turned their attention to Wonwoo, who lowered his head respectfully.

“He came into my room to convince me to come, but I refused. I did stay in his room to make sure he wouldn’t leave regardless, but I must have fallen asleep because he managed to get out the window before I realized. I apologize.”

“It’s not your fault, Wonwoo, you did your job. I’m glad you were able to follow closely behind him.” The king said. Wonwoo was surprised he hadn’t questioned why his son had come into the guard’s room so late. “As for you, my son, you will be punished for sneaking out.”

Mingyu groaned, which earned him a sharp look from his father.

“You can’t complain, you brought this upon yourself! You are to stay in your room all day tomorrow, your meals will be brought to you. A guard retrieved the rope, and there will be an increased guard presence under your window. We are looking for the way you managed to get out without alerting the guards, however.”

“There’s a tunnel built through the wall,” Wonwoo said suddenly, Mingyu gave him an annoyed look, “It’s on the western side, covered by bushes.”

Mingyu’s father sighed, “We’ll place guards there as well until we can repair it, thank you, Wonwoo.”

“I’m not a kid!” Mingyu suddenly shouted, “I think I should be allowed to go out and do things!”

“Not when there’s a group of people outside these walls who want to kill you! I’m trying to keep you safe.” His father snapped.

“I can handle myself, it’s not like I’m weak. And Wonwoo was there!”

His father sighed loudly, “There are only two of you, against who knows how many of them. I know you can fight, but they could have easily overwhelmed you both.”

Mingyu wanted to say something else, and almost didn’t when Wonwoo placed a hand on Mingyu’s arm. It didn’t stop him for long. “It’s not like you even know anything about them.”

At this point, Wonwoo knew Mingyu was just saying whatever he wanted to get a reaction from his father. 

“You,” his father rubbed his temples, “Are not to leave your room tomorrow, I will decide if that will be extended at another time tomorrow. Wonwoo will stay in your room with you to make sure you don’t leave. If not him, then it will be someone else.”

Now, Wonwoo wanted to complain. Being locked in a room with Mingyu all day was the opposite of what he needed right now, but he kept his mouth shut. There was no use for a guard to complain to a king about his decisions.

**Joshua**

His dad was angry, not at his son, but at King Yoon. Joshua was used to his dad being angry over things he couldn’t control, and he would sit by to offer advice sometimes. The king was in a particularly bad mood after breakfast that day because the Water king decided to avoid everyone again, and forced that decision on his son as well.

“He has to grow up eventually! He won’t even agree to speak with me, does he realize how that looks for our kingdoms’ relationship?” His father was pacing the room, mumbling other things as he did.

Joshua looked at his mother who was looking at the book in her lap with a half smile on her face. 

His father suddenly spun around, “And I’m assuming you still haven’t been allowed to speak to Jeonghan since yesterday?”

“Allowed to? No. But I did anyway.” Joshua said, he felt comfortable telling his parents everything..

Both his parents laughed, looking at each other.

“When did you become so rebellious?” His mother asked, placing a finger in her book before closing it.

“I had to get creative because of Jeonghan’s dad.” Joshua answered with a shrug.

“And how, may I ask, did you manage to see him?” His dad asked this time, leaning against the chair his mother was sitting in.

“I stole a Water kingdom uniform and took his supper to him.” 

“I didn’t hear that,” His father laughed, “Did you at least return the uniform?”

Joshua shook his head, “Not yet, I might need it again.”

“But how did you get around your own guards? They didn’t try to stop you?” His mother asked, leaning in and placing her free hand against her chin.

“I have my ways,” Joshua said with a smile. Obviously, the guards didn’t even realize he had gone anywhere. The whole time they had assumed he was still sleeping in his room. 

His father sighed and chuckled, “I’ll allow it, but if you get caught I’m going to pretend I had no idea you were doing it, and I will ground you.”

“Then I’ll try to not get caught.” Joshua replied, nodding his head to say that he understood the consequences.

“By the way,” Joshua’s mom stood now and placed the book on the table, she came over to him and patted his cheek, “I’m very proud of you.”

Joshua smiled at the sudden affection, “Why?”

“Well, for starters, checking on Jeonghan even though you were not allowed. I’m sure that meant a lot to him. But also, I noticed you and the other princes have started getting along. It’s nice to see, the other queens are glad as well.”

“We may have bonded over our mutual dislike of a certain king.” Joshua said.

His father raised his eyebrows, Joshua knew he needed to be careful about saying those kinds of things but since it was the truth, he decided to say it anyway.

“That means no more fighting, right?” His mother asked, ignoring the previous comment.

“I can’t promise that.” Joshua laughed lightly.

“Boys fight sometimes,” His father interjected when his mother’s lips tightened, “Even if they are friends.”

**Mingyu**

Sometimes, boys even fight with their parents. Which is exactly how Mingyu found himself grounded, and Wonwoo sitting directly next to his window in the off chance that he would try to leave again.

Mingyu sat on his bed with his arms crossed, hoping if he pouted long enough, Wonwoo would take pity on him and let him leave the room. But Wonwoo had his eyes closed, he was confident the prince couldn’t leave because on the other side of the door were more guards. The prince watched Wonwoo closely, taking time to really examine his features and an expression he rarely saw. Wonwoo looked disappointed, and Mingyu knew that it was directed at him. He knew it was stupid to leave the castle at night, but part of him wanted to see if he could get further in his pursuit of the guard. Now, he feared he completely ruined everything he had tried to build. He didn’t want Wonwoo to see him as a reckless child, but he had convinced himself that’s exactly what Wonwoo thought.

“Wonwoo?” Mingyu spoke softly.

The guard’s eyes didn’t open, but he gave a small murmur in response.

“What do you think of me?”

Wonwoo opened his eyes now, “What do you mean?”

“What do you see me as?”

“The Fire kingdom’s prince.”

Mingyu nodded slowly and swallowed thickly, “Alright.”

“Why?”

“I want you to see me as more than the prince.”

“Mingyu,” Wonwoo’s voice was strained, “Stop it.”

Mingyu furrowed his brow, “Why? Why should I? You know how I feel.” He was tired of this same response, their conversations went nowhere when they needed to go  _ somewhere. _ Mingyu knew there was something there, but he didn’t realize it was going to take this much pushing to get an answer.

Wonwoo huffed and uncrossed and crossed his arms, “Because at this point you’re just going to hurt your own feelings.”

“If that happens then it’s your fault.”

Wonwoo sat forward and put his head in his hands. Mingyu got off the bed and walked over to him, getting on his knees and pulling Wonwoo’s hands from his face.

“Can we just talk? You never want to talk, you always cut me off or run away. I just need to know.” Mingyu didn’t expect to plead with the guard, but here he was, literally on his knees.

“There’s nothing more to say.”

Wonwoo tried pulling his hands away but Mingyu held tight, “Yes, there is.”

“What? What else could there possibly be? I already told you, I don’t know how I feel, and this isn’t making it easier for me.”

“But you do know! I know you do,” Mingyu sat up, bringing his face up to Wonwoo’s, “Please tell me. Even if it’s a no, I need to know. I can take it.”

Mingyu watched as Wonwoo’s eyes scanned the prince’s face, lingering on his lips. He was silent for what felt like an eternity.

“I’m your guard.” Wonwoo said finally.

Mingyu groaned in frustration, “Wonwoo, please!” He yelled bitterly, shoving Wonwoo’s hands away from him.

There was a knock on the door, “Is everything alright, your highness?”

Mingyu stood up, and gave Wonwoo a hard look, “Fine. We were just talking.” He took a few steps back towards his bed, “I want you to leave.”

Wonwoo stood up without saying anything; Mingyu made a move to grab Wonwoo’s arm to stop him but chose not to. He didn’t want to fight anymore, and he felt that stopping him would only lead to another argument. Wonwoo left the room without another word to Mingyu and another guard took his place.

Angrily, Mingyu grabbed a book from his shelf and sat down in a chair. He stared blankly at the pages. He knew that he was being annoying, and that his constant questions about this were bothering Wonwoo, but he also couldn’t understand why the guard wouldn’t just say what he was really thinking. Mingyu didn’t think he was particularly good at reading people all of the time, but he knew Wonwoo well enough to know there was something on his mind. Especially when it came to their brief conversations.

Mingyu really didn’t care if Wonwoo said he didn’t have feelings for him, that would make him feel better than this odd sort of limbo he was in currently. There was no way, at least in his eyes, that Wonwoo had zero feelings towards him, otherwise he wouldn’t be acting the way he was. He struggled to put that into words whenever it came time to actually speak to Wonwoo; it was hard telling someone how they were supposed to be acting.

Mingyu stood up suddenly, tossing the book onto the table, and walked across the room to the door.

“Where are you going, your highness?” The new guard asked, reminding Mingyu that he wasn’t alone in his own room.

“I have to talk to Wonwoo.” Mingyu answered, reaching for the doorknob.

“You are not to leave the room.” The guard said. 

“But I need to go find him,” Mingyu replied sternly.

“Sorry, your highness, your father told us we are not to let you out. If you would like, I can ask another guard to find him and have him come back.”

Mingyu shook his head, not confident that would actually bring him back. He had to come back eventually, maybe a few hours apart would be good for them.

**Seungkwan**

He wandered the castle by himself; Jeonghan wasn’t allowed out, Junhui was with Jihoon, and Joshua was in another meeting at this point. Seungkwan made his way to the back garden and into the small hedge maze. Junhui had shown him the way to the middle once before, and he wanted to try to find it again.

Unfortunately, he took a few wrong turns and was now lost. It wouldn’t be dark for a few hours, but no one knew where he had gone and he wasn’t confident that he would figure out which way he had come in. Many deadends and wrong turns later, he gave up and sat down. Someone had to find him eventually, right? He just wished the maze wasn’t spooky all by himself.

The birds were chirping, but the wind rustled the hedges every so often, only making the atmosphere worse. He decided to get up and try again, but as he stood a branch snapped. It was close, but he didn’t know how close. Seungkwan tapped his side, and realized that he was having even more bad luck. He left his pouch of bending water in his room.

A shadow emerged from around the corner, and Seungkwan backed himself up even more against the hedge walls.

The person quickly poked their head around the corner and shouted “Boo!”

Seungkwan yelped and almost fell over, “Vernon! I hate you so much!” He ran over and proceeded to smack the other a few times on the arm, but not too hard that it would actually hurt.

Vernon shouted in surprise but started laughing loudly, “It was funny though! I didn’t think you would get that scared!”

“I’m lost and alone in here, of course I’m going to be scared!” Seungkwan whined, still reeling from the surprise.

Vernon grabbed Seungkwan tightly and hugged him, as if to apologize, “Let me make it up to you. Do you want me to show you out?”

Seungkwan shook his head, “I want to get to the center first.”

“Oh, well, you were almost there. You should’ve taken a left instead of a right and you’ve been there.” Vernon took Seungkwan’s hand, and led him back through the maze.

Seungkwan smiled, gripping Vernon’s hand a little tighter. Before they realized it, they were walking in step with each other. It felt natural, Seungkwan almost worried that Vernon would let his hand go once they reached the middle. Vernon didn’t plan on letting go until he felt Seungkwan let go first.

They made it to the center in no time, and Seungkwan sighed in relief. “Good thing you found me, I wouldn’t have made it.” He suddenly paused, “But, how did you find me?”

Vernon laughed awkwardly, “It doesn’t matter how.”

Seungkwan moved closer, “Did you follow me?”

Vernon stepped back, but still held onto Seungkwan’s hand tightly, “No way!”

“You can say if you did, I won’t be mad.”

“I just saw you go in, so I walked here but when I didn’t see you come back out, I went looking.”

Seungkwan nodded slowly, finding the answer to be somewhat acceptable. He pulled Vernon along to look at the flowers that were delicately placed and most were in full bloom. He was disappointed by one, it still wasn’t blooming.

He pointed at it, “Why won’t that one bloom?”

Vernon looked at the flower, the first time he pulled his eyes away from the Water kingdom boy since they got there, “I think that’s a Moonflower, it only blooms when it gets dark.”

Seungkwan sighed, “I wanted to see it, the last time I was here it was the afternoon too.”

“We could come back tonight to see it, if you want.” 

Seungkwan looked up at Vernon brightly, “Really?”

Vernon swallowed audibly, “Sure, after the meal tonight, I’ll bring you here.”

“Then it’s a date,” Seungkwan said without thinking. 

Vernon’s face went red and he smiled, “Date?”

Seungkwan heard the word back to him and shook his head, “I mean, it doesn’t have to be a date. Only if you want to call it that, we can. I’m not saying we’re dating or anything. We’ve only known each other for a few days. Not saying that I wouldn’t be against it, if  _ you  _ wanted to or something. I just mean...am I making this weird?”

Vernon laughed, swinging his arm around Seungkwan’s shoulders, and looping the other’s head through their arms as he did, “Not at all, did you want to sit?”

Now it was Seungkwan’s turn to turn red, “No, I want to go back to my room and hide for a few hours.”

**Seungcheol**

The second day of meetings was tense, and Minghao was visibly bored without Mingyu being with him. Seungcheol offered plenty of solutions, but Minghao turned all of them down. After the meetings ended for the day, the prince rushed to find Soonyoung and spend as much time as he could with him. Privately. Which meant Seungcheol was forced to stand outside Minghao’s room and wait.

Now even Seungcheol was feeling bored. He had been standing for hours at the meetings and now he was going to have to stand for a few more hours with not even the constant conversation of kings to keep his mind occupied. Occasionally another guard would walk by and they would greet each other, but no one stopped to talk. Seungcheol started making up stories about where each of them could be going or what they were doing. That would only entertain him for a few minutes at a time though.

“Seungcheol, I need to talk to you!” A voice pulled him out of his fog.

He looked towards the voice, and waved. It was just Wonwoo, but he looked worried.

“Should we talk here?” Seungcheol asked, nodding back to the door.

Wonwoo didn’t respond, instead he slumped against the opposite wall and slid down. Seungcheol rushed over and squatted to sit in front of him.

“I don’t know what to do.” Wonwoo said, his head and voice heavy.

“What’s going on? Is it about Mingyu?”

Wonwoo looked around to make sure no one was there before nodding his head, “I didn’t tell you, but he kissed me the other night.”

“Really?” Seungcheol almost smiled, but realized it was not the time to do so.

“He saw Minghao and Soonyoung in the garden, so he called me into his room to ask me about them. He was excited because he thought that if they could be together then he could be with whoever he wanted. He asked me how I felt about him and when I said I didn’t know, he got a little angry and told me that he liked me. That’s when he kissed me.

“That’s not even the end of it because since then, he’s been pushing me to give him an answer. I just don’t have one to give him. You know he snuck out of the castle last night, right? His father told me to watch him, and he brought it up again. He keeps asking, and won’t take ‘I don’t know.’”

“Tell me what you’re thinking, you can pretend I’m Mingyu if you need to.” Seungcheol said, unsure of what else to say.

“Pretending you’re Mingyu wouldn’t help.” Wonwoo sat silently, finally lifting his head as he thought, “It’s wrong.”

“What’s wrong?”

“For him to even be in love with me at all.”

“Why do you think that?”

“He’s the fucking  _ prince. _ ” Wonwoo sounded almost angry.

Seungcheol pointed to Minghao’s door, “Do you know who’s in there?”

“Minghao?”

“Yeah, and who else?”

Wonwoo shrugged.

“Soonyoung. And do you know why he’s in there?”

Wonwoo didn’t respond.

“Because they love each other. Not a prince and another royal, but a prince and the son of the kingdom’s war chief. I know you’ve got your own personal hang ups about it, but it’s possible. Do you understand?”

Wonwoo stared at him blankly, “That’s different.”

“Explain.”

“Soonyoung isn’t his guard, he’s already in a higher position than either of us just by being the son of the war chief.”

“You’re making excuses that don’t exist.” Seungcheol said.

Wonwoo’s lips tightened, “I thought it would help to talk to you.”

Seungcheol rocked back, and sat, “What do you want me to do?”

Wonwoo didn’t respond, and Seungcheol didn’t ask again. They sat in silence. Seungcheol watched Wonwoo closely, while Wonwoo stared at the floor. Minghao’s door opened, and Seungcheol turned to see the prince standing in the doorway. He had an upset expression on his face.

“Both of you, get in here.”

**Minghao**

Despite everything, he asked Soonyoung to come to his room to take a nap with him. The meeting that day had been so draining he just wanted to sleep, but he wanted Soonyoung with him. They did manage to sleep for a little while, but after about an hour Soonyoung tapped Minghao awake.

“Listen,” Soonyoung whispered, and Minghao lifted his head from Soonyoung’s chest to hear what his partner had heard.

There were two voices outside the door, one was definitely Seungcheol and the other was... Wonwoo maybe?

“Wonwoo?” Minghao mouthed to Soonyoung, who nodded.

“I heard him say something about Mingyu.” Soonyoung whispered.

Minghao sat up and rushed to the door, pressing his ear against the wood. Soonyoung stayed in the bed, but propped himself up on his arms. The prince heard Wonwoo practically spit about Mingyu being a prince, and Seungcheol launched into his bit about the two in the room.

Minghao turned to Soonyoung and mouthed “Us?”

Soonyoung shrugged and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

The two guards argued for a few more moments before Minghao decided he had heard enough. Wonwoo needed some sense slapped into him. He threw the doors open, “Both of you, get in here.”

He turned and walked in the room, and Soonyoung looked at him with a surprised expression. When the guards walked in, Soonyoung relaxed slightly.

“Seungcheol, shut the doors.” Minghao said, and pointed at Wonwoo to sit in a chair.

Wonwoo sat, he looked bewildered at the suddenness of Minghao’s voice.

“What happened with Mingyu?” Minghao asked, sitting on the end of the bed.

Wonwoo looked over to Seungcheol, who nodded, “He kissed me.”

“And?” Minghao crossed his arms now.

“He keeps trying to get me to say how I feel about him, but doesn’t understand that I don’t know.” Wonwoo looked away.

Soonyoung moved down the bed and sat next to Minghao, “And you’re upset about it?”

“Obviously.” Wonwoo’s voice was flat and his face expressionless.

“You’re conflicted specifically because he’s your prince, and you think it’s wrong for you two to be together?” Minghao uncrossed his arms, allowing Soonyoung to loop their arms together.

Wonwoo looked back at the two of them, and noticed how close they were, “I feel like I’m being set up.”

“Maybe you are, but be honest.” Minghao replied.

Wonwoo nodded, “I don’t think it would be a good idea for a prince to be with his guard.”

“Why?” Minghao asked, “You think it’s going to stop you from doing your job?”

“No, I just don’t think it’s appropriate.”

Minghao rolled his eyes and groaned loudly, “You keep saying the same thing! Just tell him you aren’t interested and that’s that!”

“But I am!” Wonwoo shouted back.

Minghao smiled slightly, that was what he was looking for. “So, tell him.”

“Tell him what?”

“You like him, but can’t be with him.”

“I don’t think he would accept it.” Wonwoo’s voice softened.

“Of course not, but it’s better than no answers at all.” Minghao said.

Wonwoo stood up, “I need to think about this, I’m leaving.”

No one stopped him as he left. Seungcheol made sure the door was shut after Wonwoo walked out, and turned to Minghao. “Do you think he’s actually going to talk to Mingyu?”

Minghao shook his head, “No, I doubt it.”

“What do you think he’s going to do?” Soonyoung asked, grabbing Minghao’s hand and holding it tightly.

“I don’t know, but I’m a bit worried that I made everything worse.” Minghao sighed.

“Whatever happens,” Seungcheol started, “You can’t blame yourself. Not everyone is as comfortable with these things like you two.”

Minghao nodded, but chewed the inside of his lip, worried for the worst.

**Vernon**

Seungkwan sat with them again at supper, it was becoming a regular occurrence for both him and Junhui to join the group. He was sitting next to Vernon, as usual, but this time, they would hold hands under the table whenever they got the opportunity to do so. It would only last a few seconds, but Vernon had to stop himself from smiling whenever they did. He didn’t understand why he was acting like this about someone he had only known for a few days. The only other time he had a crush was when he was 10, and she was the only girl in class that would laugh at his jokes. He felt differently about Seungkwan though, sure, he was cute and also laughed at his jokes, but there was something more magnetic about him. 

After the meal was finished, Vernon and Seungkwan got up together to leave.

“What are you two doing tonight?” Soonyoung asked as they stood.

“I’m taking him to see the Moonflowers in the maze, he wanted to see them in bloom.” Vernon answered.

Junhui’s eyes lit up, “Oh that sounds fun, can-” Jihoon elbowed Junhui in the side, and the air bender got the hint quickly, “Have fun!”

They said a quick thanks and headed out to the garden. As soon as they were out of the great hall, they were holding hands again. No one questioned them as they walked outside, and Vernon knew he had a grin on his face, but if he tried to stop himself it just crept back up again. 

Seungkwan was walking quickly, but it wasn’t hard for Vernon to keep up. When they got to the entrance of the maze, Seungkwan pushed Vernon in.

“Why are you rushing? They’ll be blooming for a while.” Vernon laughed, turning and grabbing Seungkwan’s arms, pulling him against his chest.

“I want to see them!” Seungkwan almost struggled against the sudden hug, but chose not to. He liked the warmth.

“Let’s walk slowly,” Vernon let go, and retook Seungkwan’s hand, “It’s a nice night.”

The air wasn’t the only reason he thought it was nice, being with Seungkwan made it even nicer. Seungkwan didn’t say anything, he only nodded. 

“Do you not have Moonflowers in the Water kingdom?” Vernon asked.

“No, at least, I don’t think so. I’ve never seen them before.”

“Is there anything like this there?”

“Nope, we have a huge pond instead. There’s a lot of fish and ducks in it, if you come to the Water kingdom, I’ll show you.” 

Vernon looked over at Seungkwan and smiled, “That’d be nice. I wish we could explore the village here together, but I don’t think that’s going to happen for a while.”

“That could have been our second date,” Seungkwan replied, laughing slightly.

“We haven’t even finished our first date, and you’re already ready for a second one?”

“Do you not want a second date?” Seungkwan sounded almost hurt when he asked.

Vernon tried to laugh it off, “No, I just meant  _ you _ might not want to. I’ve never been on a date before, so I might screw things up.”

“I’ve never been on a date either.”

“Well, then that’s good at least. We can’t compare it to anything.”

They finally reached the center of the maze, and Seungkwan let out a loud gasp. Vernon watched as Seungkwan’s face lit up, his heart felt like it was going to burst. He was so  _ cute  _ it was almost unbearable. The water bender dropped Vernon’s hand and rushed over to the blooms, leaning in and taking a deep breath. He looked over his shoulder and smiled at Vernon.

“Thanks.” He said simply.

“No problem.” Vernon walked over, shaking his head at the comment.

“No really,” Seungkwan held out his hand to Vernon, who took it without thinking, “It’s been rough since we got here, and I’m glad I met you.”

“I’m glad I met you too.” Vernon didn’t know if he actually believed in the idea of soulmates or not, but this felt like one of those moments from stories his mom used to read him as a kid. It almost didn’t seem like it was going to be real in the morning. It felt real enough, the heat from Seungkwan’s hand in his own, the chill night breeze, it reminded him that he was awake and in this moment.

“Are you okay?” Seungkwan placed his other hand on Vernon’s cheek.

Vernon nodded, “Yeah.” He had an urge to lean in and kiss him, but didn’t think it would be the right time. The longer he looked at Seungkwan’s face, the more he thought about it. He couldn’t read Seungkwan’s mind, but there was an expectant expression on his face. “Can I kiss you?”

Seungkwan nodded, and he lifted his face more towards Vernon. He leaned in and kissed Seungkwan’s lips lightly. It only lasted for a moment, but it was enough. 

Seungkwan slowly opened his eyes, “So, about that second date?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really excited for next week's chapter, I wonder if any of you can guess what's going to happen :)


	6. Ch.6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight mentions of child emotional abuse in this chapter (in Jeonghan's/Joshua's sections) but it's very brief!  
> Also, I use dinner/lunch interchangeably, and supper is the evening meal. I don't know if that distinction is needed, but I know some people use the word dinner for supper.

**Mingyu**

He was woken by someone he didn’t recognize the next morning, “Where is Wonwoo?”

There was no one who would answer the question, just people dressing him and telling him he had to go to the throne room before breakfast. His presence had been requested along with the king and queen as early as possible. A lump formed in his throat and his stomach felt like it was tied in a knot. Something was wrong, and no one would answer him. He was escorted to the throne room by someone else he didn’t recognize, an older man with a hard face. 

He felt confused, and he wondered if he was still asleep and just having a very vivid dream. Both his parents were already in the throne room when he got there, sitting in their respective seats with worried expressions on their faces. He sat slowly, the anxiety setting in more now. The doors opened again and a figure entered. Here was Wonwoo, but what was he doing calling a meeting this early? Mingyu felt sick to his stomach.

When Wonwoo reached the base of the steps, Mingyu’s father spoke, “What is this about, Wonwoo? What is so urgent that you called this so early?”

Wonwoo suddenly dropped down on a knee, his head down. Mingyu sucked in a breath, gripping the arms of his seat so tightly that he scratched the wood with his nails.

“I am asking to be removed as the prince’s personal guard.” Wonwoo’s voice rang through the hall, and bounced around in Mingyu’s mind.

“Why?” His father was also stunned, this was so sudden.

“I worry that I can no longer do my job effectively, there are too many personal matters that I need to attend to first.” 

“What is so desperate that you must completely step down instead of aside for a time?” His father almost sounded angry.

“Is it your parents? Did something happen to them?” Mingyu’s mother asked now, she sounded concerned.

Wonwoo shook his head, “No, your highness, they’re fine.”

“Then I don’t understand what would make you come to this decision! Especially right now, with everything going on?” His father rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“I would rather not disclose the reason, for my own sake as well as the other parties involved. I just ask that you would grant my request.” Wonwoo raised his head finally, his eyes on the king only.

Mingyu wanted Wonwoo to look at him, to give some indication that he was actually referring to him. The prince’s face felt hot, he was angry and embarrassed to be in this situation.

“And where would you go?” The king asked.

“I spoke with the commander, and if you agree, I would be transferred to the city guard.”

Mingyu bit his lip, trying to stop himself from bursting into tears from what he was hearing. Wonwoo was trying to get away from him.

“Fine,” The king said, much to Mingyu’s dismay, “I will allow it. On one condition. Because you have been working as my son’s guard for years, if the time should come where your personal matters are resolved, you will come back to this position.”

Wonwoo was silent before he nodded, standing and bowing. The former guard turned, his eyes passing over Mingyu completely. As soon as he left the room, Mingyu leapt from his seat and ran after him. He ignored his mother and father calling after him, and shoved past the guards that tried to stop him.

“Wonwoo!” He yelled angrily at the retreating figure in the hall.

Wonwoo stopped walking, but didn’t turn. Mingyu stormed over and grabbed Wonwoo’s arm, forcing him to turn around. Even then, he refused to look at Mingyu’s face.

“Why are you doing this?” Mingyu was on the verge of tears, this time he wouldn’t try to stop it if it happened.

“I have to.”

“No, you don’t. If you just talked to me, then-”

“I tried!” Wonwoo snapped, “I told you so many times that I didn’t know what I wanted but you wouldn’t listen! You don’t know how hard it’s been the last few days, I’ve been fighting with myself on what to do and I still don’t know. I need to get away from you and clear my head.”

A tear dropped down Mingyu’s cheek, and suddenly he completely broke, “You never said anything, you keep acting like we talked but you would avoid the topic. Before you leave, please tell me something.” His body was shaking as the tears flowed down his face.

Wonwoo’s lip trembled slightly, “I don’t know what to say.”

Without thinking, Mingyu shoved Wonwoo to the ground, “That’s what you always say, and you call that talking! Get out then! Go be a city guard and forget it! I hope you never come back!” Mingyu turned, and ran back to his room. He kept his head down but knew everyone could tell he was crying. 

When he got to his room, he slammed the door shut, then threw himself onto his bed, sobbing into his pillow. It was all his fault that Wonwoo left, if he hadn’t pushed him so much maybe he wouldn’t have quit. If he hadn’t decided to kiss him that one time, everything would be different. How could he have been so stupid and selfish? He knew it wasn’t simple, but he just wanted something from the other. Even if that something had been a complete rejection, it would be better than this feeling of not knowing where he stood in Wonwoo’s eyes. 

He didn’t go to breakfast.

**Soonyoung**

He felt like he was sitting on a ton of dynamite at breakfast. His father told him what happened that morning with the prince and Wonwoo, but no one else at the table seemed to know about it. Even Vernon didn’t know, he was sitting next to Seungkwan and they were talking about something completely different. 

“Where’s Mingyu and Wonwoo?” Seungcheol was the only one to ask about it when he finally came to the table.

That’s when everyone else noticed their absences. 

“Wonwoo stepped down as Mingyu’s guard this morning.” Soonyoung blurted.

“He what?” Vernon turned his attention from Seungkwan for the first time that morning.

“He called for a meeting with the royal family this morning, and he asked to step down. He’s a city guard now.” Soonyoung explained, nervously fidgeting in his seat.

“And how did Mingyu react to that?” Seungcheol’s voice dropped.

“My dad said he ran after Wonwoo and they started arguing, Mingyu shoved him then ran back to his room.”

“Were they dating?” Junhui spoke up, looking concerned. 

Soonyoung shook his head, “No, but they liked each other. Even though Wonwoo wouldn’t admit it, he did like Mingyu back.”

“Do you think he quit because of our conversation yesterday?” Seungcheol asked.

Soonyoung shook his head, “I don’t think we said anything that would make him think to quit, I think he did it just because he wasn’t getting the answers he wanted and needed time to think.”

“It’s hard for him,” Seungcheol said, “Having to be around Mingyu all the time, he doesn’t get the chance to be alone and really think.”

“Is he ever going to come back?” Vernon asked now.

Soonyoung shrugged again, “My dad said the deal was that once Wonwoo gets his personal stuff sorted then he’s supposed to come back. That’s so open-ended though that I have no idea if he’s ever going to come back.”

“Damn, should someone go find him and talk to him?” Vernon sounded upset, but no one would blame him for that.

Seungcheol shook his head, “I feel like he’s tired of talking about it.”

“I don’t blame him.” Jihoon said, “Let’s just leave it at that. Someone should talk to Mingyu, though.”

Seungkwan made a small noise, “Wait, does prince Minghao know what happened?”

Soonyoung and Seungcheol exchanged glances, and Soonyoung shook his head. “I doubt it, I only just heard about it myself.”

“He’s probably the best one to go talk to Mingyu, someone has to tell him first.” Jihoon said.

“I’ll do it,” Soonyoung knew he would be the best bet to break the news. It may hurt less if Minghao heard it from him.

**Jeonghan**

His father burst into his room as he nibbled on a piece of bread. He hadn’t been eating much the past couple of days, his appetite had dropped significantly since he wasn’t doing anything but sitting around. His energy levels had dipped as well, he hadn’t seen Seungkwan at all yesterday because he wasn’t up to seeing anyone. 

But as his father stood in the middle of the room, his lack of food, sunlight, touch, and socialization all crashed down on him at once. He forced himself to sit up straight and keep his eyes open.

“I’m going to allow you to leave this room.” His father said, looking around his son’s room and making a disgusted face at it’s disheveled state, “It is best for our image if I let you leave, and my presence has been specifically requested at the meetings today. I am not requiring you to come to the meeting this morning, but you will be at the afternoon meeting.”

Jeonghan only nodded in response, worrying that saying anything would cause his father to change his mind. His father left the room as swiftly as he came in, and Jeonghan slowly stood from the chair. He didn’t know what he should do first with his newfound freedom. Go outside? Find Joshua? Or stay in and sleep some more?

He decided to walk to the courtyard, hoping someone would be there. But he found it empty, but the sunlight hit his face and he suddenly felt better than he had been. There was still a lot wrong inside, but the sunlight alleviated some of it. He took a walk to the back garden, taking his time as he walked. He passed people from other kingdoms, and they nodded to him but also gave such sad looks.

Jeonghan chose to ignore the looks. He had a feeling he knew what people were saying about him and his father, but no one would offer any help. At least the strangers wouldn’t offer to help; Joshua suddenly came into his mind, and Jeonghan felt a pang in his chest, he really missed him.

As he came to the back garden, he saw a group of people standing around, talking and laughing loudly. He recognized most of them, and as he walked closer one of them turned in his direction.

Both Jeonghan and Joshua froze in their spots. Joshua moved first, running towards the other and almost tackling Jeonghan to the ground on impact. Joshua kissed Jeonghan over and over, first on both cheeks, then his lips, then tilting the other’s head to place a kiss on his forehead.

“Your dad let you leave?” Joshua asked, pulling away from Jeonghan to look him up and down.

“Yeah, for now.” Jeonghan pulled Joshua back into him, desperately needing more positive touches.

“Good,” Joshua quickly kissed Jeonghan’s neck, “There’s a lot you have to catch up on.”

The two finally pulled apart, and Joshua led them back to the group. He was immediately greeted by Junhui and Seungkwan, but there was another person with them that he couldn’t recognize.

“Who’s this?” Jeonghan asked, noticing the red jacket the boy was wearing immediately.

“I’m Vernon, your highness.” He held his hand out in greeting.

“Fire bender?” Jeonghan asked, lightly taking Vernon’s hand.

“Yeah, but it’s okay. That’s something we have to talk about too.” Joshua interjected quickly, lightly squeezing Jeonghan’s arm.

Jeonghan was less worried about Vernon being a fire bender than he was confused about why Vernon’s other hand was holding Seungkwan’s. He was only locked up for 2 days, how much did he miss?

The group decided to sit on a patch of grass, away from the path so they could have some privacy as they explained everything that happened. The retelling began with Joshua explaining that he was actually friends with the other princes now, and that they wanted to get to know Jeonghan better as well. Jeonghan was relieved by that, he didn’t have the energy to keep being mean to them right now.

They told him about how Mingyu snuck out the other night, and even about how Wonwoo quit being the prince’s guard. They did not leave out why Wonwoo quit, and Jeonghan almost got mad about it, thinking both Mingyu and Wonwoo were being incredibly stupid and could use a third party to help them work things out. Joshua agreed.

Junhui mentioned that he was getting along really well with Jihoon, the boy from the Earth kingdom. Then came the thing he wanted to know about the most.

“Why are you two holding hands?” Jeonghan asked after listening intently to Junhui’s retellings of his various encounters with Jihoon.

“Don’t get mad!” Seungkwan said before anything else.

“Why would I get mad?” 

“We’re...kind of dating now…” Seungkwan said, his face turned slightly pink as he said it.

Instead of getting mad, he did something much worse. His big-brother mode activated and he looked directly at Vernon with an intense expression on his face, “If you make him upset, I will kill you.”

Seungkwan groaned and started whining about how Jeonghan was embarrassing him, while Joshua and Junhui broke into loud laughter. Vernon, on the other hand, looked worried, all the color drained from his face as he nodded.

Jeonghan was shocked, he didn’t mean to scare him that badly, “Wait, you can relax! I was just joking!”

Vernon tried to laugh it off, but he still looked worried. He looked at Seungkwan, but the other just nudged him and whispered something in his ear. Whatever was said made Vernon relax more. They obviously didn’t need his approval, but if they did, they had it. Jeonghan’s mood was lifting just by being around his friends. He nonchalantly took hold of Joshua’s hand and roped their fingers together.

**Jihoon**

It wasn’t a surprise that Minghao did not take the news of Wonwoo quitting well. Jihoon didn’t know how the news was broke to him, but he was aware of the aftermath. It took Soonyoung, Seungcheol, and Jihoon all their strength to stop the prince from storming to the captain of the guards to demand to know where Wonwoo was now. 

Jihoon hadn’t heard the conversation the others had yesterday, but Seungcheol caught him up about it. There was no way what they said should have equaled quitting his position, but apparently that’s what Wonwoo got out of it. They also spent a lot of time trying to calm Minghao down before they would let him go talk to Mingyu, who needed support and not more anger. Jihoon was trying to be sensitive, but he wasn’t good at relationship troubles like this. The only advice he thought of giving to Mingyu was to “suck it up” and move on, but that was not the appropriate solution. 

So he decided to leave, letting the experts take control of the situation. He was wandering the castle when he happened to pass the meeting room, where all four kings were having another heated discussion. He paused a few feet from the door and tried to listen, the Fire kingdom guards noticed him but didn’t tell him to move along. The kings were discussing how they were going to get everyone home safely. This convening of the kingdoms was going to be over soon.

“We cannot guarantee safety yet, and you want to  _ leave _ ?” the Fire kingdom sounded confused.

“We cannot cower here forever, it’s time we left. Maybe you’ve forgotten, but the rest of us still have kingdoms to run.” The Water king replied, and Jihoon was unsurprised that he was advocating for their return.

“I think it would be wise to stay until we know what we can expect from this Purple Lightning group,” The Earth king said, “I am not willing to put anyone from my kingdom in any unnecessary risk.”

“Then you can stay here forever, but I am leaving in two days and my family is coming with me.” The Water king spat back.

“We can offer you extra protection from our city guards until you reach the kingdom’s limits. After that, you will be on your own.” The Fire king said.

Jihoon’s eyes widened,  _ city guards?  _ He suddenly thought of Wonwoo. He couldn’t burst into the meeting over the risk of one guard’s safety, why should they be worried about that? They were royalty, guards were just there to do what needed to be done. He turned and ran back to Minghao’s room, but it was empty when he got there. 

“Shit,” he mumbled under his breath, they had already gone to see Mingyu. He didn’t want to bring up Wonwoo in front of Mingyu, but he needed to talk to Soonyoung and Seungcheol about what he heard. They knew more than he did about what the Purple Lightning was planning.

He made his way back to Mingyu’s room, and knocked on the door quickly. Seungcheol opened it, he stepped aside to let Jihoon in but he refused.

“I need to talk to you and Soonyoung,” He said.

“Can it wait? We’re in the middle of something.” Seungcheol said, nodding his head towards Mingyu. 

Jihoon stepped in just enough to see Mingyu sitting on his bed, legs crossed, with a dazed expression on his face from his puffy eyes. He pulled Seungcheol closer to him, “It’s about Wonwoo.”

Seungcheol straightened and arched his eyebrows, Jihoon nodded. The guard looked over at Soonyoung and made a gesture for him to come. The three went into the hallway and a few paces away from the door.

“You said the Purple Lightning wanted to attack the families as they left, right?” Jihoon started.

The other two nodded.

“The Water kingdom is still leaving in 2 days, and king Kim is sending the city guards to guard their convoy until they reach the end of the kingdom’s limits.”

“How’d you find this out?” Seungcheol crossed his arms nervously.

“I overheard the meeting. Did they say when or where they would attack?”

They shook their heads. 

“The only way we would know that is if we were in the group, and I don’t think we could make it in the meetings. We’d get recognized.” Seungcheol said.

“Maybe we would, but maybe not someone from another kingdom.” Soonyoung said.

Jihoon narrowed his eyes, “If you’re suggesting we send Junhui in,  _ we _ will have some problems.”

“It could work, but it’d be too risky. Plus, we’d have to find a way to get him in and out of the castle walls, which is much harder to do now because Mingyu found a way to get out.” Seungcheol closed his eyes, “I’m sure this same suggestion has already been brought up to the kings, we can’t be the only ones who thought to infiltrate their meetings.”

“At this point, I’m just thinking of how we can save Wonwoo. If he dies, I don’t think Mingyu will just be sitting in his room crying about it,” Jihoon sighed, “Do you think we could convince Wonwoo to come back in a day?”

The other two shrugged, but did seriously consider it.

“You definitely couldn’t,” Soonyoung pointed at Jihoon, “And I don’t think he’d listen to us again, we should probably ask Vernon to try. He might be able to actually get through to him.”

“We’ll talk to him after lunch, until then, should we go back to cheering up Mingyu?” Jihoon said, reluctantly suggesting to go into Mingyu’s room. 

“Don’t say anything about Wonwoo to him unless he asks, okay?” Seungcheol warned, “He’s very sensitive right now.”

“That’s why I made you two come outside.” Jihoon whispered before pushing the door open. 

Mingyu and Minghao were sitting on the bed, rather, Mingyu was laying down on the bed while Minghao was sitting next to him, patting his shoulder. Jihoon went over and knelt beside the bed, resting his chin on his arms as he looked at Mingyu. Mingyu blinked some tears out of his eyes and sat up.

“What were you three talking about out there?” He asked, wiping his face.

“Don’t worry about it, this is about you.” Jihoon climbed onto the bed, and patted Mingyu’s head.

Mingyu sniffled, “I don’t want to cry anymore.”

“Then stop.” Jihoon said simply.

Mingyu dropped his chin and arched his eyebrows, “I can’t.”

Jihoon pinched the prince’s cheeks, “Baby.”

“I’m not!” Mingyu weakly tried to push Jihoon’s hands off his face.

“Baby,” Jihoon said again, squishing the prince’s face more. 

The others in the room thought this was a weird way to cheer the prince up, but didn’t say anything.

“No,” Mingyu whined, “I’m not a baby! I’m just sad.” 

But Jihoon refused to let up, he sat on his knees and looked down at Mingyu, “You can be both, you’re a sad baby.”

Mingyu suddenly laughed, grabbing Jihoon’s hands and holding them. The others let out a breath of relief. They had been trying to make him smile all morning, and apparently all it took was Jihoon coming in and, literally, babying him.

“You skipped breakfast, that’s probably making you feel worse, too. Babies have to eat.” Jihoon let go of Mingyu’s cheeks and spun his hands around to hold Mingyu’s hands loosely.

“I didn’t feel hungry,” Mingyu said with a pout.

“And now?” Jihoon asked, sitting back without letting go of Mingyu’s hands.

The prince sniffled, “A little.”

“Dinner should be coming soon, and we’ll go eat then.” Jihoon swung their arms briefly.

Mingyu nodded before looking around the room at the other’s faces, “Sorry.”

“For what?” Minghao asked.

Mingyu dropped one of Jihoon’s hands to gesture to his face, grabbing it again after, “Crying all morning.”

Minghao shrugged, “No need to apologize, it happens.”

“It just seems like a stupid reason to cry, we weren’t even dating.” Mingyu looked down.

“If it hurts, then it’s not a stupid reason. It’s normal to cry after a loss of any kind.” Seungcheol said.

“You were friends, after all.” Jihoon added.

“I love him.” Mingyu said softly.

Jihoon wove their fingers together, not knowing what to say in response. They all allowed the words to sit in the air for a few moments. Saying something didn’t feel right, sometimes saying nothing said more than words.

When it finally came time for dinner, Mingyu had clearly calmed down enough that he felt comfortable going to the great hall in front of everyone. Jihoon felt confident that there would be no further breakdowns as the princes separated to sit at their own table. Junhui, Seungkwan, and Vernon were already seated when the other three arrived. Junhui pulled Jihoon down next to him.

“How’s Mingyu?” Vernon asked.

“Better,” Jihoon answered.

“Yeah, Jihoon was really helpful in actually cheering him up.” Soonyoung said, “He pinched his cheeks and called him a baby.”

The table laughed, and Junhui turned to Jihoon, “You’ve never done that to me!”

Jihoon wiped his hands together, and grabbed Junhui’s cheeks, “Happy?”

Junhui nodded, satisfied. They talked and laughed casually for the whole meal. Sometimes, Jihoon would look up to check if Mingyu was actually eating. It was hard to tell since the prince’s back was to him, but he assumed that he was. After the meal finished, Jihoon pulled Vernon aside to tell him what they were thinking.

Vernon agreed quickly, but he raised an important concern, “I have no idea where he’s currently stationed, or where he’s going to be living.”

**Joshua**

All of the princes had been requested at the afternoon meeting. It was optional, of course, but encouraged. While Mingyu and Minghao debated on going or not, Jeonghan said he was going. Joshua agreed to go as well, and the other two princes decided they should too just in case. The four sat together, which three of their fathers nodded at. However, Jeonghan’s father gave them all hard looks, even sparing a slight glare towards Joshua. It didn’t bother him, he was used to it.

“Since this morning, we have made preparations for the Water kingdom’s departure.” The Fire king said, tapping a piece of paper on the table.

Joshua glanced at Jeonghan, who looked just as confused.

“The city guards will escort you from the gates to the border. Once again, I would suggest holding off on leaving until we can fully grasp what the threat is like.” The Fire king sounded exhausted.

“Thank you, but I think we will be fine. They’re just a group of thugs after all.” The Water king said. 

“Have you considered the other proposal from this morning?” The Air king asked, glancing over at the princes.

Jeonghan’s father hit the table, “I will not be leaving my son here. I think I can protect him better than anyone here could.”

Joshua almost laughed, but stopped himself. Jeonghan would be safer in the hands of the Purple Lightning at this point, but Joshua wouldn’t say that out loud. He couldn’t test his luck like that. 

“Why don’t we ask him what he thinks about it?” Joshua’s father asked, he was willing to push king Yoon’s buttons.

The kings turned towards Jeonghan, but Joshua already knew what he was going to say. He wasn’t going to go against his father in front of everyone.

“I agree with my father, I should go with them.” Jeonghan said without any change in tone.

Joshua’s face remained expressionless. Even though he knew what to expect, part of him wanted Jeonghan to just say no. He knew it was wrong of him to even get slightly annoyed about it, he would never understand what it’s like to go through that situation. Joshua didn’t have to feel afraid of his own parents. As well, Jeonghan was already defying his father enough just by dating Joshua.

“That settles it then, we will be leaving the day after tomorrow as originally scheduled.” Jeonghan’s father was clearly satisfied with Jeonghan’s answer.

“But,” Mingyu suddenly spoke out, and Joshua felt panic rise in his throat, “What if you do get attacked outside of our kingdom? Do you have enough guards to defend you?”

Mingyu’s father shot him a warning glance.

King Yoon turned again, “Your concern isn’t needed, boy.”

Joshua slightly nudged Mingyu’s arm, trying to tell him to stop, but the Fire prince didn’t.

“So you’re fine putting people at risk just like that?” Mingyu asked.

Joshua realized why this would warrant a response from him. Seungkwan and Junhui had told him that Mingyu’s former guard would be in the city guard now, meaning he was at risk of being attacked by people who wanted him dead. King Yoon didn’t realize he made it personal for Mingyu, but getting emotional wasn’t going to work against the Water king.

“It’s just a small group, there isn’t any risk.” Jeonghan’s father’s face was red now. 

Mingyu opened his mouth again, but his father cut him off, “Please excuse my son, he has had a very rough morning. He’s not usually this disrespectful.”

“Oh I’ve heard about the events of this morning. It’s no surprise his guard quit when he acts out like this.” The Water king chuckled lightly, turning back around in his seat.

“Leave the boy alone, I’m sure he meant no disrespect.” Joshua’s father stepped in, hoping to stop an argument between the two kings before it began. 

Mingyu sighed heavily, deciding not to say anything else. Mingyu’s father gave his son a stern look before turning back to the meeting. Joshua’s own father was against the idea of leaving the kingdom too early, but he was pushing for a faster investigation so they could return home comfortably.

There wasn’t much new information about the Purple Lightning, most non-benders were refusing to speak with any authorities or if they agreed, their information was practically worthless. The Fire kingdom authorities were working on a way to join a meeting without being caught, and hoped to be able to infiltrate a rumored meeting the next night. By the day the Water benders would be leaving, they would have new information to bring to the meetings. King Yoon agreed to leave after the morning meeting.

Since there was no new information to report, the meeting was dismissed. None of the princes moved until all the kings had left the room.

“You’re lucky to be breathing,” Joshua said, turning to Mingyu.

Mingyu shrugged, “I’d welcome death at this point.”

“Don’t try to act brave,” Joshua almost snapped at Mingyu but he kept his tone even.

“I got scared and he wasn’t even talking to me.” Minghao said, slowly getting out of his seat.

“You get used to it.” Jeonghan said quietly, getting out of his chair and walking to the door. 

Joshua followed after the water bender, looping his arm around Jeonghan’s, “Are you nervous to leave so soon?”

The other shrugged, “Maybe, I don’t like not knowing if they’ll actually attack or not.”

“I wish your dad would let you stay, we could take you home when it’s safe.”

Jeonghan stopped walking, “Can we advance our plan by a few months?”

Joshua placed his hands on Jeonghan’s face, “You’re scared.”

“More of my dad than anything that Purple Lightning group could do to me.”

Joshua hated saying no, but he knew this wasn’t the right time for them to start their plan, “I’ll talk to my dad about how the planning is going, but I don’t think anything can happen for at least a week more. Do you think you can hold on for that long?”

Jeonghan gave him a dejected smile, but nodded. Joshua looked over his shoulder to see Mingyu and Minghao standing a few feet away from them. Neither of them were saying anything, but they had a curious look on their face. They had probably overheard some of what was said, and wanted to ask. Joshua shook his head, and walked on.

**Seokmin**

“I know what they’re planning.” Seokmin said, slamming his hands onto the work table.

“First of all, be careful with what you’re hitting. You could blow us all up,” one of the other members, named Changkyun, said as he prayed none of the bombs he was making fell onto the floor, “Second, how do you know?”

Seokmin sat in an empty chair, “It’s amazing what guards will say when they get a little too drunk.”

“It’s the afternoon, were you actually out drinking this morning?” Changkyun said, pushing the bombs back into the center of the table.

“No, this was last night,” Seokmin answered.

“Then what have you been doing all morning? Hyungwon and I have been working on these tiny bastards all by ourselves.”

Hyungwon looked up for a moment when he heard his name mentioned, and blinked a few times for his eyes to get adjusted to looking at something further away from him.

“Well, where’s everyone else?” Seokmin asked, giving Hyungwon a small wave before he got back to work.

“Recruiting.”

“Okay, well then don’t complain since I know how much you hate doing that.”

Changkyun glared at him, “Okay, what did these guards say?”

“They’re going to send some of their people into our meetings to learn about our plans. So tonight and tomorrow we have to be careful about what we say to the group.” 

“That’s it?” Changkyun asked as he went back to what he was working on.

“You sound disappointed.”

“Maybe a little. I was hoping for something a bit more intense. Did they say anything about potential travel changes?”

Seokmin shook his head, “As far as I know, the three kingdoms are planning to leave the day after tomorrow.”

“Your connection to the castle didn’t get back to you yet, did they?” Hyungwon finally spoke up, snapping two pieces of casing together and setting the finished bomb onto another stack.

“She should be here soon though, as long as they actually let her leave on time for once.” Seokmin propped his feet up on the edge of the table.

Changkyun looked up slightly and arched an eyebrow, “Well then, why don’t you work on a couple things while you wait. Hyungwon and I haven’t had lunch yet.”

Seokmin smiled nervously, “I’m the leader, why should I have to do any work?”

Changkyun laughed, “Oh that’s how it is?”

Seokmin chuckled as well, “Yeah, that’s how it is.”

Changkyun picked up his knife and faked throwing it at the other. Seokmin dropped his feet off the table, and ducked. He grabbed a few pieces of equipment, “Okay, okay, fine. I’ll work.”

Changkyun snapped his bomb into place, and stood up, “Good, we’re going into town to get some food. We’ll be back in an hour, probably, make sure you get at least one finished.”

Seokmin nodded, and got to work. He planned on making just one and then stopping; he was impressed the other two had made so many. He only had so much patience, and he hated wasting it on this kind of thing. Plus, Changkyun was just better at making weapons than he was. 

He worked slowly, he wasn’t as experienced with the assembly and because of that he had to keep checking the instructions Changkyun had made. He just barely finished his one when there was a soft knocking on the back door. This was who he was waiting for. He never learned her name, and he wouldn’t bother learning it now. She had also never seen his actual face, or learned his name.

“I’m here to talk to DK.” She had a soft voice, and there was a hint of nervousness in it. 

Seokmin didn’t blame her for being nervous, if she had gotten caught there would be severe consequences but she was brave enough to volunteer. He walked to the door, didn’t open it but sat on the other side, “What do you have for me?”

“The Water kingdom is the only ones who are planning on leaving as planned, but they will be heavily guarded. They’re using the city guards until the end of the kingdom limits.” She said.

Seokmin nodded, “Got it.”

“There’s another thing you should know,”

“What is it?”

“The prince’s guard quit this morning, he’s been moved to the city guard. I don’t know if he’s going to be accompanying the Water kingdom or not, but he’s out of the castle. I don’t mean to speak out of turn, but you could use that to your advantage against the Kim family. The prince was really broken up about him leaving.” As soon as she finished speaking, she walked away.

Seokmin smiled and looked up, Changkyun and Hyungwon had returned just in time to hear her last statement.

“I think I know what we have to do.” Seokmin said.

Changkyun smiled, seeming to have the same thought, “I’ll get some supplies.”


	7. Ch.7

**Vernon**

No one paid him any attention as he walked into the city guard’s main station. His father managed to figure out when Wonwoo would be ending his shift, and agreed to tell his son as long as he agreed to not leave the castle walls. Vernon waited outside of their locker room until Wonwoo came out.

They made eye contact, and Wonwoo looked almost disappointed to see him. Vernon tried to lighten the mood with a cheerful greeting but Wonwoo barely smiled in response.

“What are you doing here?” Wonwoo asked, walking out of the station with Vernon on his heels.

“Wanted to talk to you and, you know, ask you how you’re doing.” Vernon said. He was mostly telling the truth, he was concerned about Wonwoo’s well-being since his exit wasn’t the most peaceful thing in the world after all.

“Exhausted, but otherwise fine.” 

Vernon grabbed his arm to stop him, “Are you being honest?”

“Are you? Did you really only come find me to ask how I’m doing?”

“No.” Vernon replied, keeping his grip on Wonwoo’s arm tight, “Jihoon, Soonyoung, and Seungcheol want me to convince you to come back by tomorrow.”

Wonwoo sighed and rolled his eyes, “Of course.”

“They have a good reason.”

Wonwoo finally shook Vernon’s hand off, “And I have a good reason not to go back yet.”

Vernon looked around before he leaned in, “They think you’re in danger.”

“Why would they think that?”

“The Water kingdom is still leaving in two days, and the city guard has to protect them. They’re worried the Purple Lighting is going to attack and that you’ll get hurt.”

Wonwoo’s face went through a few changes, from confusion to concern to finally a hint of anger, “It’s my job, and I’ll take the risk.”

“And if you get hurt?”

“Then I get hurt.”

“I’m going to guilt you into changing your mind,” Vernon said, continuing his policy of honesty.

“I expected it.” He started walking again, and Vernon followed.

“How do you think Mingyu would feel if you got hurt or, even worse, killed? He  _ literally _ cried for hours this morning because you left, I think he would be locked in his room for weeks if something happened.” 

“He’ll get over it.”

Now it was Vernon’s turn to roll his eyes, “Think about it at least, and if you decide to stay here then try to stay safe. If not for yourself or Mingyu, then for your other friends.”

Vernon stopped just before the castle gates, but Wonwoo walked a few more steps before noticing Vernon had stopped. He turned, nodded, then walked through the gates. Vernon didn’t feel confident that he had convinced the other, in fact he had convinced himself that Wonwoo was going to stay in his current post. He felt a bit sad, knowing that once everyone else left it would just be him and Mingyu; not that he had a problem with that, but he would miss being around both of them.

As soon as Wonwoo was out of sight, Vernon made his way back towards the castle. It was getting late, most people would be getting ready for bed at this point. The only place for him to go at this hour was to his own home. The castle had specific areas for those who were closest to the royal family, and with his father being the prison warden, that meant his family lived within the walls. 

His mother and sister were sitting outside their small complex when he arrived. They both gave him a strange look as he greeted them. He asked if something was wrong but they both shook their heads and laughed to each other. He shrugged their strange behavior off and walked into the house. His father was sitting in front of the fireplace, a piece of paper in each hand; he glanced up as Vernon entered.

“There’s someone here to see you, he’s in your room.” His father said simply.

“Who?” 

His father shrugged, “I’ve never met him before, but he said he’s a friend of yours. Water kingdom I think. Nice boy.”

Vernon glanced up the stairs. Obviously it wasn’t the prince, which meant Seungkwan was in his room. He didn’t think they had agreed to meet that night, so why was he there? Vernon thanked his dad, and walked up the stairs as calmly as possible. 

He peered over the landing and into his room, the door was wide open so he could see Seungkwan sitting on the edge of his bed. He looked nervous, which only made Vernon feel more nervous. As soon as Vernon took a step into his room, Seungkwan’s head snapped up and he smiled.

“Sorry, I hope you don’t mind me just coming over like this. I asked Jihoon where you lived, and he brought me here. I really need to talk to you about something.” Seungkwan’s voice wavered slightly.

“Should I shut the door?” Vernon turned slightly to gesture to the door.

Seungkwan nodded, and Vernon closed the door. He walked over and sat next to Seungkwan on the bed. He grabbed Vernon’s hand.

“I’m supposed to leave in two days,” Seungkwan said slowly.

“Oh, right.”

“I don’t want to leave.” Seungkwan added, turning his body towards Vernon so he could face him, “I really like being with you, and I hate being home.”

“But what about the prince?”

Seungkwan bit his lip, “I already talked with him about this, and he’s fine with it. The thing is, and you can’t say anything about this to anyone, he’s not going to be there after a week or two. After that, I’ll be alone. I thought that it would be better for me to stay here, rather than go home for a few weeks then come back. I don’t even know if I could come back after what happens.”

Vernon didn’t respond for a few moments, he wasn’t sure what to bring up first. “Did you talk to your parents about this?”

Seungkwan nodded, “I talked to them first. They were hesitant, but they said it’s fine.”

“Where are you going to live if you stay here?” Vernon didn’t want to jump and offer Seungkwan to stay at his house. They did have a spare room, but he wasn’t confident that his parents would allow it.

Seungkwan shrugged, “I wanted to stay with you, but I get it if you don’t want that. We’ve only known each other for about a week, and I don’t want you to think I’m trying to move too quickly.”

“We could ask my parents.” Vernon said quickly. He worried that his response was almost too quick based on the shock on Seungkwan’s face, but Seungkwan quickly smiled.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to burden them, and I don’t even know how long I’ll be here.” 

“We’ll just explain that, I think they’ll understand.”

“Before we talk to them,” Seungkwan placed his free hand on Vernon’s knee, “Did you tell them about me and you?”

“What? That we’re dating?”

Seungkwan’s face went red, “Yeah.”

“Not yet, I was almost too worried to say anything too soon.”

“Are you going to tell them now?”

Vernon shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe.”

Seungkwan stood, “Okay, let’s see how it goes.”

He waited for Vernon to get up before going to the door. Vernon grabbed Seungkwan’s arm and spun him back to face him; he quickly kissed Seungkwan’s forehead, then, embarrassed, opened the door. Vernon led the way down the stairs, and his father was still sitting in the same spot as before.

“Would you be able to take a break for a minute? I need to ask you and mom something.” Vernon said.

His father peered over the papers he was holding and nodded, “She’s outside still.”

Vernon went to the front door and asked his mom to come in for a minute. Seungkwan stood with his hands pressed in behind him, and his eyes on the ground.

“Is something wrong? You both look nervous.” His mother began as she took a seat next to his father.

Vernon nudged Seungkwan lightly, and the water bender cleared his throat, and began to explain the situation. He explained, in as little detail that the circumstances allowed, why he did not want to return home to the water kingdom, “And, since I’ve gotten close to your son the past couple days, I wanted to ask if I could stay here with you all. I can’t promise the length of time I’ll be here, but I’ll only stay as long as you all let me. I can try to get a job somewhere to pay back anything, if that means anything.”

Vernon’s parents remained silent for a moment, taking in all the information Seungkwan laid out to them. His father moved the papers from his lap to the table and crossed his legs.

“You said you’ve already spoken to your parents about staying in the Fire kingdom?” His father asked, and Seungkwan nodded. Vernon’s parents looked at each other, and it seemed like they were using their minds to communicate, “Tomorrow, I think, we should talk to them before anything is final. You are technically old enough to make your own decisions, but it would be best to be sure.”

Seungkwan nodded, “I can talk to them tonight about meeting with you both tomorrow.”

“You almost sound disappointed,” Vernon’s mother said with a laugh, “I, for one, hope things work out and you can move in here. I think Vernon would be sad to see you leave.”

“Mom!” Vernon stammered, his ears starting to feel hot.

“Sorry!” His mom laughed again.

“Don’t embarrass him!” His father said, holding back a laugh now as well.

“You’re both making it worse!” Vernon tried to sound angry, but he really wasn’t. There were worse things his mother could have said after all.

Seungkwan let out a laugh of relief, “It’s okay, I know you would be sad.”

Vernon, without thinking, smacked Seungkwan on the arm and pulled him into his arms, “I think it’s time I take you back to your room.”

“Fine, fine.” Seungkwan pushed his way out of Vernon’s arms, but grabbed his hand in the process, holding it tightly, “What time should I tell them to talk to you two?”

“We’re both free after breakfast, just come by the house any time after that.” Vernon’s mother said, glancing at the two holding hands and smiling slightly.

**Wonwoo**

His first night in the barracks was restless. He hadn’t lived in a room with other people since his training days, and every noise made him snap awake again. Apparently, his brain hadn’t yet gotten the memo that he wasn’t listening for something to happen to Mingyu anymore. As soon as he reminded himself of that, his thoughts decided to replay the events of that morning again. He had to shake that out of his head to gain another 10 minutes of sleep. He swore the sun was starting to come up when he finally fell into some longer sort of sleep. Overall, he only got about 2 hours of sleep the whole night. His sleep schedule had been incredibly off the past few days, but maybe he would get back into a healthy routine soon. He hoped for it, at least. 

Breakfast was hardly appealing either, he had been spoiled on the palace food that he almost threw up his empty stomach at what was slapped onto his plate that morning. How he managed to survive on this stuff for all the years he was in training was beyond him. Thankfully, it didn’t taste as bad as it looked, but it still wasn’t very good. 

None of the guards gave him a hard time like he was expecting, part of him was worried they were almost scared of him. He needed to make some new friends outside of the palace now, but barely anyone spoke to him. His shift wasn’t until later in the day, so he had the morning off, but he wouldn’t have anyone to hang out with to pass time.

Despite this, after breakfast he took a walk by himself. The village was just waking up, and people were slowly starting to come out and set up shop for the day. 

“Is that--is that Jeon Wonwoo?” A vaguely familiar voice called from behind him.

Wonwoo turned towards the voice and saw two men staring at him. Not only did they sound familiar, but they had familiar faces as well.

“It is!” The same person said, breaking into a smile and walking towards him.

Wonwoo squinted, “Hoseok?”

The person laughed in greeting, “I thought you wouldn’t remember me! How’s my favorite trainee?” Hoseok threw his arm around Wonwoo’s shoulders and put him in a loose headlock.

The other person came over now and leaned over to be at eye level with Wonwoo, “We haven’t seen you since you got the good job.”

Wonwoo recognized this person as Hyunwoo, the second of his trainers from years ago. He managed to pull Hoseok’s arm off so he could greet Hyunwoo.

“Are you two still training new guards?” Wonwoo asked, smiling widely.

The two nodded, and looked Wonwoo up and down.

“I was going to ask if you were still the prince’s guard,” Hoseok started, “but, by the way you’re dressed, I would assume not.”

“I transferred to the city guard yesterday.” Wonwoo said.

“What happened?” Hyunwoo asked.

“It’s a long story, but let’s just say there were personal reasons.” Wonwoo shrugged, trying to show them that it wasn’t a big deal.

“Well, good thing we’ve got plenty of time to listen.” Hoseok threw his arm back over Wonwoo’s shoulder and started walking.

“Where are we going?” Wonwoo was suddenly nervous, he hadn’t seen either of them in years but now they were suddenly expecting him to tell them everything. He already started planning out how much he was willing to say though.

“The old arena, no one goes there anymore so we’ll have plenty of privacy as you tell us about these ‘personal issues’.” Hoseok explained. 

Wonwoo tried to protest, but both Hoseok and Hyunwoo remained unswayed. There were a few kids hanging around the arena when they got there, but they stayed in the center field while the three walked into the stands.

Hoseok lightly pushed Wonwoo onto a seat and sat in front of him, “Okay, start.”

“I don’t know why you seem so interested in knowing, it’s not even a big deal.” Wonwoo said, trying to wave the whole thing off.

“If you left your position, then of course it is. People don’t usually just leave that position unless they get too old or they die. You’re only in your 20s, and seem pretty alive to me. So, what is it?” Hoseok said, leaning an arm on Hyunwoo’s shoulder as he sat down next to him.

For some reason, Wonwoo felt completely compelled to actually tell the truth. There wasn’t a real reason for it, but there was a time when he would have told these two everything that was bothering him. Seeing their faces took him back to his training days, and all those times he considered quitting but Hoseok and Hyunwoo convinced him to stay.

He started at the beginning, not giving every detail but enough that felt right. He told them about how his relationship with Mingyu went from just a guard to being friends. As much as he didn’t want to think about it, he told them about the kiss and all the arguments that followed. Their expressions stayed relatively stable as he spoke, but when he talked about the final argument he had with Mingyu after he formally left both of their eyebrows shot up. Once he finished talking, he looked up at them, waiting for some type of response.

“Damn, I get why you took a step back.” Hyunwoo spoke first.

Hoseok nodded, “I don’t blame you, I think what you did was fine, but you are going to talk to him eventually, right?”

Wonwoo shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“Well, you have to at some point.” Hoseok said.

“I don’t think this is one of those times you can just run away from the whole thing forever. Even if you both decide to move on and be with other people, you still have to talk about this.” Hyunwoo added.

“Take your time with this, though, don’t think we’re also trying to rush you to make a decision. I think it’d be fine if you took a few weeks away, but you have to think about it. Don’t push it down, that’ll make it worse.” Hoseok said, and Hyunwoo nodded in agreement.

“I feel a bit guilty for just walking away, apparently he was crying all morning about it.” Wonwoo said, pulling his sleeves over his hands.

“He’s clearly not the only one who was upset by you leaving. I didn’t want to say it, but you look like shit.” Hoseok said, “Did you sleep at all last night?”

Wonwoo shook his head and laughed slightly, “Not really, it was too hard to sleep.”

They both nodded, Hoseok spoke up “You’ll get used to it, it’s like your training days.”

They fell into another conversation about the “good old days” of training, and generally catching up. Wonwoo didn’t realize how much he missed talking to them, he hadn’t seen them for years and there was so much to say. Eventually, he lost track of time but was reminded that it passed when he realized the kids who were playing in the field were no longer there.

“Oh, shit, I forgot I have a shift today.” Wonwoo said, jumping up.

“It probably is time to get back,” Hyunwoo said, standing slowly. 

As they walked back to the barracks, they continued talking about things. The older two walked Wonwoo to the front of the barracks and hugged him before they left.

“Good luck, come find us after your shift if you’re up to it! But until we see each other again, think about what we said!” Hoseok waved goodbye, 

Wonwoo waved back before turning to go into the barracks. 

**Joshua**

“Everything will be ready in a week as long as there are no major setbacks.” His father hadn’t sounded incredibly confident in that statement when Joshua asked about the plan the previous night. There wouldn’t be any confidence as long as the Purple Lightning was around, and Joshua had a feeling Jeonghan wouldn’t be too surprised about that. They both wanted to set their plan in motion as much as the other, but there had already been plenty of setbacks.

In the morning, Joshua found Jeonghan as soon as possible before they went to breakfast. Unfortunately, he couldn’t say anything because Jeonghan’s guard was hanging a little too close for any sort of private conversation to occur. He would just have to wait to make a brief mention during breakfast. 

The other two princes were already at the table by the time they arrived, and the four greeted each other calmly. As soon as they sat, Joshua placed his arm around Jeonghan’s waist.

“He said it’ll be another week.” He whispered and Jeonghan just nodded in response.

Most of breakfast passed with light conversation between the four of them, two of the princes were still nursing raw emotions from the previous day but they seemed better.

“Jeonghan, I heard something interesting from Vernon, and I wanted to ask about it.” Mingyu said.

Jeonghan nodded and Mingyu continued, “He told me Seungkwan was asking to stay here in the Fire kingdom, did you know about it?”

“Yeah,” Jeonghan nodded slower this time, “We talked about it yesterday, but my father isn’t supposed to know yet so please keep that a secret.”

“Is he really going to get mad about someone else’s son not coming home?” Minghao asked, an appalled tone in his voice.

“I have no idea how he’d react, that’s why we’re trying to keep it secret until the time is right.” Jeonghan shrugged.

“Can I ask why he’s staying? I mean, is there another reason besides the fact that he and Vernon got close?” Mingyu asked.

Jeonghan and Joshua looked at each other for a moment, now they had to decide if they were going to tell them their plan or lie about it.

“Well,” Jeonghan looked away first, “I won’t be living in the Water kingdom after a little while.”

Both the other princes said “huh?” at the same time. 

“Where are you going?” Minghao asked at the same time that Mingyu asked “Is everything okay?”

Joshua spoke up now, “The thing is, he and I are going to go somewhere together.”

“Where? For how long?” Mingyu seemed genuinely interested in what they were saying.

“We can’t say where, and honestly we don’t even know how long we’ll be there. We’re just going to go.” Joshua explained.

“Does your father know about this?” Minghao asked, nodding at Jeonghan.

“No way!” Jeonghan said, his nose wrinkling a little.

“Nice.” Minghao replied, rocking a little in his seat, “Does yours?” He looked at Joshua now.

“My dad’s setting things up for us.” Joshua replied.

“We’re supposed to pretend we know nothing about this, right?” Mingyu asked, wiggling in his seat like an excited kitten.

Both Jeonghan and Joshua nodded, and the other two princes nodded in return. It was a weird moment, just a week ago they were at each other’s throats at all times but now they were talking like old friends. It wasn’t a particularly bad thing, Joshua really appreciated the change. It was just, considering everything, an odd situation and it happened quickly. He glanced at the other table, where Junhui was sitting with another group of people that he never expected his friend to be sitting with. 

“I’m glad this week wasn’t a complete disaster.” Joshua said, thinking out loud more than expected a comment in return.

“There’s still tomorrow,” Mingyu said, his tone flat, “Hopefully nothing happens though.”

Jeonghan grabbed Joshua’s hand under the table, it was obvious he was still nervous about leaving the next day but he wouldn’t vocalize those nerves. Joshua glanced at the table where all the kings were seated. His father and Jeonghan’s father were talking to each other, and he could see both their faces clearly. His father was nodding, his lips pressed tightly together while Jeonghan’s father spoke wildly, his face looked angry. Joshua couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could imagine it had to be something about their departure the next day. 

He didn’t get mad about a lot of things, but just seeing Jeonghan’s dad made Joshua want to get violent. Of course, his bending didn’t offer much in the way of violent techniques. He had mostly learned defensive techniques, and no one in his family focused too much on actually combative things. There were some air benders who did know how to actually fight, and Joshua heard rumors about some type of move that would cause significant pain to the recipient, but he wasn’t interested in trying to learn it and getting caught. Explaining why he would want to bring someone pain would make him feel guilty about even attempting it in the first place.

As well, Jeonghan would comment frequently that he liked that Joshua remained so calm. It made him feel at ease. Joshua looked away from the kings, and his mood shifted back to normal.

**Jihoon**

He decided to take a walk. The castle walls felt like they were beginning to suffocate him, and he needed some fresh air. Junhui asked if he could come along, but Jihoon said no. It would be easier for him to get out of the castle walls by himself. He knew how to slip by the guards underground, but he was bad at predicting height. Junhui was much taller than him and Jihoon was worried that the air bender would accidentally bang his head against the rocky ceiling as they traveled. Instead, Jihoon promised to buy Junhui something nice while he was in town.

The usual tunnel they could have taken had been recovered, and there were a lot more guards patrolling the walls in case another young earth bender started itching to leave. Jihoon thought they were all fools. There are plenty of ways to get around the wall, a hole in it was just the easiest way, especially if one was going somewhere with non-earth benders. He went into the maze and purposefully got himself trapped in a corner, having made sure no one saw him go in first. He stomped down, creating a large hole under his feet that he dropped down with ease.

Now, this is when things would get difficult. A lot of his earth bending practice was spent with his eyes completely covered, he wanted to learn to bend under any circumstance, although digging an underground tunnel to go into a village wasn’t his original intention for it. Jihoon covered the top of the hole, and started digging his way through. He wasn’t too deep underground, but enough that no one on the surface would be able to feel vibrations of his bending. He was close enough that he could put his hands onto the rocky ceiling and feel how much pressure was above him.

He knew when he was under the castle walls this way, it was the section with the most pressure. Every few feet he would stop digging and check above his head, and once he had cleared the wall, he dug a few more feet before giving himself a way out. As he poked his head above the ground, his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. He was in a wooded area, which was better than he could have hoped for. Jihoon jumped from his tunnel, and covered the hole again, finding a branch and stabbing it into the ground to mark where the tunnel began.

The village wasn’t far from where he got out, and he could clearly hear loud conversations from many different people. This was the noise and environment he had been craving. He was able to slip into the crowded streets with ease, and he went to a few shops before he heard something interesting. Someone was being arrested, and they were not happy about it. Jihoon walked out of the shop to watch the scene. There was already a large crowd, and he shouldered his way to the front.

“I wasn’t even doing anything!” The person being arrested shouted.

“You know what you were doing!” One of the guards shouted.

The person kicked slightly, and tried to get out of the guard’s grip.

Jihoon turned to the person next to him, “What’s he being arrested for?”

“Probably being a non-bender, they’ll arrest anyone not like them for no reason.” The person said.

“That’s stupid,” Jihoon said, “Is there really no other reason?”

Someone else spoke up, “I saw him handing out flyers to people about that anti-bender group.”

“Handing out flyers isn’t illegal,” Jihoon said without thinking, watching as the guards drug the man away.

The crowd started breaking up now, but Jihoon stood in the same place. 

“Handing out flyers isn’t, but the Purple Lightning is.” The person said.

Jihoon shrugged, and started walking. He didn’t like the Purple Lightning for obvious reasons, but didn’t want to speak up and agree with an arrest in front of a crowd. There was no way to know who was listening. All he wanted to do was have a quick trip into the village with no incidents. Luckily, that seemed to be the only problem for the rest of his trip. Before heading back to the castle, he remembered to buy a small snack for Junhui. 

He closed up his tunnel as he made his way back, not wanting to leave any evidence of his trip besides the snack stored in his pocket. He popped back up into his corner of the maze, listening carefully in case someone was about to sneak up on him. There were a few voices around, but not close enough to worry about. He made his way back out of the maze and back into the castle, stopping someone to ask where prince Minghao was. All the princes had just gotten out of another meeting, and were headed to the courtyard.

So, Jihoon went to the courtyard, hoping Junhui would eventually show up there as well. He made it to the courtyard before anyone, so he sat on a bench and waited. Soon, the voices of the princes came closer. Mingyu walked into the fresh air first, letting out a pleased shout as he stretched his arms out over his head. He noticed Jihoon, and ran over, sitting closely next to him.

“Where did you go?” Mingyu asked, apparently someone had mentioned he left by himself earlier.

“Out.” Jihoon said simply.

Mingyu wrapped his arm around Jihoon’s shoulders and pulled him closer, “Okay, keep your secrets.”

Minghao sat on the ground in the middle of the courtyard, leaning back onto his hands. The other two princes sat across from them on another bench, their hands clasped together tightly.

“Is Junhui coming?” Jihoon asked, thinking of the pastry he had bought that was still in his pocket.

Joshua nodded, “I sent someone to get him and the others, so they should be here soon.”

“I heard someone mention my name!” Junhui said loudly, he made a grand appearance by dancing into the courtyard.

Jihoon almost rolled his eyes. Junhui was the first of the others to arrive, obviously they hadn’t been together by the time the meeting had ended. Junhui came and sat on Jihoon’s other side, putting his arm around Jihoon’s waist. 

Jihoon pulled the snack from his pocket and handed it to Junhui, “Here, I got this for you.”

Junhui’s eyes lit up as he thanked Jihoon, opening the package and taking a deep breath, “It’s still warm.”

“Where did you get that?” Mingyu spoke up suddenly, he sounded surprised. He recognized the snack from the bakery in the village.

“Perhaps I went out and got it, what are you going to do about it?” Jihoon retorted, moving as if he was going to smack Mingyu, but suddenly remembered the prince’s new guard wouldn’t know it was just in a joking way.

At that moment, Seungkwan and Vernon came into the courtyard, followed closely by Soonyoung. Minghao motioned for Soonyoung to sit next to him, while Seungkwan and Vernon sat opposite them.

“Anything exciting happen during your trip?” Soonyoung asked.

Jihoon shrugged slightly, “I saw someone getting arrested, but I’m still not completely sure why. Someone said he wasn’t doing anything, even he said he wasn’t, but someone else said they saw him handing out flyers for the Purple Lightning.”

“Someone was lying?” Minghao asked, but Jihoon shook his head.

“Couldn’t tell, they were probably both telling the truth for all I know.” Jihoon said, “Has there been a lot of problems with non-benders in the Fire kingdom?”

Mingyu and Vernon both made a noise, Vernon’s sounded more like confusion than Mingyu’s. 

“There were some guards arresting people for no reason, but that stopped a while ago.” Mingyu stated, “Recently, they’ve been better about only arresting people who are actually committing a crime.”

“Some guards could still be arresting people for no reason, especially since most guards here are benders. I don’t know, maybe there’s some type of superiority feeling.” Soonyoung commented.

Mingyu nodded, “It could be, but they get released quickly, I think. Maybe that person Jihoon saw actually was handing out flyers, did you see anything?”

Jihoon shook his head, “He wasn’t holding anything when I saw him.”

“Arresting random non-benders is only going to make the Purple Lightning angrier.” Seungkwan said flatly.

“Someone should tell that to my dad then,” Jeonghan laughed, “We’ve got the highest arrest rates.”

“Ours is the second,” Joshua commented.

Soonyoung suddenly clapped, “That explains their order, then!” He looked back at Seungcheol who made the same connection, “They went from Water to Air, and then to Fire.”

“We all know they’re going to Earth next, do you think it’s going to be bad when they get there?” Jeonghan asked.

Minghao shook his head, but then thought about it before shrugging, “I hope not, but I don’t want to say for sure. Non-benders could have problems with us too, but I think we do a better job of looking out for them than the rest of the kingdoms. No offense.”

The other princes just nodded their heads. 

“This makes me nervous, I hate not being able to do anything.” Jihoon said, shaking his shoulders.

Junhui grabbed Jihoon and pulled him into him, “I’ll protect you, don’t worry.”

Jihoon laughed, “Why does that make me feel more nervous?”

**Seokmin**

The first part of their plan was going perfectly. Jooheon had gotten arrested, and drawn a large crowd to witness it. Step one was to get Jooheon arrested for passing out fake flyers for their meeting that night, so when the Fire kingdom guards interviewed him, he would lie about the meeting. Seokmin knew the Fire kingdom wanted to infiltrate their meetings, and it was better if they prepared for it instead of being surprised. The first meeting would technically exist, but there was a second, very real meeting that would take place at the same time in another location. The only ones who knew about it were a smaller force of people Seokmin knew he could trust with the information.

No one could be completely sure that there wouldn’t be mass arrests at the first meeting, which is why they planned for two at the same time. Of course, the first meeting wouldn’t be completely defenseless. All the Purple Lightning members at that meeting would have some bombs and other weapons on them to get away or cause a distraction if needed.

The second meeting took place in an abandoned house on the other side of the village from the first meeting. Seokmin thought it had a sort of welcoming ambiance despite the house having clearly been abandoned for years. There wasn’t even a full roof anymore, but it didn’t matter.

Once everyone that had been invited arrived, Seokmin greeted them and began to explain the plan.

“We can assume that the convoy will leave at its original time, they have no reason to believe that we will actually be attacking. At the other meeting, they’re explaining that because only the Water kingdom will be leaving, we will not be there.

“We also know that the city guard will be with them just in case, but that doesn’t change anything. There are only 20 of us, but we have enough supplies that we should be able to cripple more than our number. These masks will protect us from the smoke bombs, you will have to put them on before you can grab anyone. It doesn’t matter which kingdom the person is, take however many and whoever you can.”

Someone raised their hand, “How are we supposed to get them without getting hurt ourselves?”

“The masks help us see better through the smoke, and their bending will be useless in the fog. I doubt they’ll try to do much if they can’t see who they’re hitting.” Changhyuk spoke up.

“Do you want us to go after the royal family?” Another asked.

Seokmin shook his head, “It’s not the goal right now, but if you’re confident that you can grab someone without getting caught or killed, I won’t stop you.”

Seokmin’s own personal goal was grabbing the prince’s former guard. He didn’t even have to be the one to grab him, but Seokmin wanted the additional leverage against the royal family. If it turned out that the prince or the royal family didn’t care about the guard, the statement of executing a royal guard would be still just as massive. 

The group discussed a few more technical things, like how exactly they should take the benders captive and where they would be taking them. As well, they began discussing when they would make their move on the Earth kingdom; their presence in the Fire kingdom was still building, but they needed to continue their movement. Some in the meeting had already expressed interest in taking over in the Fire kingdom when Seokmin and his top officials left. Seokmin was hesitant about that, but everyone agreed to allow for Jooheon, once they helped him escape from prison, to lead the sect there. 

Their meeting ended, and Seokmin, Changkyun and Hyungwon walked by the first meeting to check how it was going. It was starting to wrap up as they walked by, and someone walked out and made a signal to a few guards; they nodded and walked off. Apparently, there would be no arrests that night. 

**Seungkwan**

The easy part was asking his parent’s permission to stay, the hard part would be simply informing the king that he would not be leaving with them. He and his parents worked out an elaborate lie with credible sources if it came to that. Seungwan would have to inform the king, the queen, and every other water bender that had come along that he would not be going home with them. His parent’s couldn’t even stand by his side as he did it. It was better to say it in front of everyone though.

The Water king had called everyone to the Fire king’s meeting room to talk with them about the plan for the next day. The best time for Seungkwan to speak up would be at the beginning of the meeting, before it really began. The king sat in the head chair, and asked for any opening remarks. Seungkwan took a deep breath and stood, and the king gave him an odd look.

“There is something I have to say before you begin.” Seungkwan said, his voice soft.

The king sat back, and made a motion for Seungkwan to continue.

“I will not be travelling back to the Water kingdom tomorrow.” Seungkwan said clearly.

Murmurs rose throughout the room, the king quickly silenced them, “And may I ask why?”

“I was speaking with some of the people who work in the infirmaries here, and they are preparing for the worst with the Purple Lightning. I was asked to stay because of my ability to heal, and I agreed to stay.” He wasn’t completely lying, he did work out with the medical staff of the Fire kingdom to work with them. It just was not as natural as he made it seem.

The king looked at Seungkwan’s parents, who remained expressionless, then to Jeonghan who was putting on a good show of being surprised. “Is that the only reason?”

Seungkwan nodded.

“So it has nothing to do with that fire bender boy you have been seen running around with?” The king’s expression changed from casual to a bit darker.

“No, your highness.” Seungkwan shook his head quickly. He wasn’t surprised the king knew he was around Vernon a lot, the castle wasn’t so big that it could be a secret forever, but Seungkwan was feeling embarrassed that it was even brought up.

Jeonghan stepped in now, “Do you really think he would lie to you in front of everyone?”

The king sat back again, “No, I suppose not, considering the shame he would bring onto his parents if he was. Very well, I accept this. However, if I do find out you were lying to me, you will not be welcomed back into the Water kingdom so easily. Do you understand?”

Seungkwan agreed quickly. He had no plans of returning to the Water kingdom anyway, so it didn’t matter if the king found out he was lying. There was a thought pressing in the back of his mind to just say in that moment he was lying, but he chose not to risk anything. The king dismissed him, and Seungkwan rushed out. He went back to his room to finish packing his belongings. After breakfast the next day, he was officially moving into Vernon’s home. The very thought made him feel excited. Although, he had a hint of nervousness whenever he thought about living away from his parents. He wasn’t sure if he was going to get home sick or not, and this decision was final.

He packed slowly as he contemplated if he had made a mistake or not; time passed quickly. Just as he was able to sit down on the bed after finishing, there was a knock on the door. Before he could answer, the door opened and Jeonghan popped his head in.

“Are you busy?” The prince asked, to which Seungkwan shook his head no.

Jeonghan walked in, shut the door behind him, and rushed over to Seungkwan. They embraced tightly. 

“I have to say goodbye now, I think we’ll be leaving before I can see you tomorrow.” Jeonghan said, almost on the verge of tears.

Seungkwan, who was already crying, pulled back, “I’m going to miss seeing you.”

“We won’t be apart forever.” Jeonghan said with a laugh, a tear dropping onto his cheek.

“But we don’t know how long you’ll be gone, it could be years till you come back!”

Jeonghan hugged his friend again, “We’ll keep in touch as much as possible. It’ll be easier now that you’ll be here instead.”

When Seungkwan didn’t respond, Jeonghan spoke again as he held his friend’s shoulders tightly, “You’ll be better off here, you should be surrounded by people who care about you. You can replace me with Vernon, except he is definitely not as handsome as me, he’s still a good substitute.”

Seungkwan laughed, wiping away his tears. Even though they were both clearly feeling sad, Jeonghan was good at making jokes. Seungkwan usually didn’t have trouble with it, but he was having a hard time making words at this moment. 

“Make sure you stay safe while traveling tomorrow, I’ll be angry if you get hurt just getting home.” Seungkwan said.

“If I run into any Purple Lightning guys, I’ll tell them ‘Not today, Seungkwan said no.’ They’ll have to leave me alone.”

Seungkwan laughed again, “If they don’t, I’ll have no choice but to show up and beat them up.”

Someone knocked on the door, and told Jeonghan he needed to finish up his conversation.

Jeonghan’s face turned serious, “You remember what I told you?”

Seungkwan nodded.

“Good, and you know you’ll be immediately suspected once we leave?”

Again, Seungkwan nodded. 

“I hate leaving like this, but we’ll both be okay. See you later.” Jeonghan hugged Seungkwan once more before leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week's chapter is....so good (at least I think so). I hope you all enjoyed this chapter even if there wasn't a lot that happened, see you in a week and thanks for reading :)


	8. Ch.8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW / CW : panic attack (it is in Mingyu's section, I underlined the first and last sentence that deals with it in case you need to skip it, I completely understand!)

**Wonwoo**

Before anyone was allowed to go to bed that night, they were debriefed on what their duties would be. Most in Wonwoo’s unit would not be actually traveling with the convoy, but because of his experience, Wonwoo was assigned to the task. He didn’t feel too worried about it, even with Vernon’s words bouncing around in his skull. 

They were all woken early the next morning, and he actually felt rested; he would still wake at random intervals but it was better than the first night. He did still catch himself thinking he was still in his old room, and would see Mingyu first thing in the morning, but once he heard one of his bunk mates snoring, that thought immediately dropped from his mind. 

After breakfast, all those who would be going along were given packs of supplies. Then, they waited along the road for the convoy. It was a peaceful morning, and Wonwoo had a hard time believing anything would go wrong. The atmosphere didn’t lend itself to that kind of thinking. 

It didn’t take long for the convoy to start moving, and Wonwoo fell into step with the other guards. As they walked, Wonwoo took in the surroundings. The road to the Water Kingdom was different from the road to the Earth kingdom, and was rarely traveled by the Fire kingdom’s family. Wonwoo wondered if Mingyu had ever seen this as a kid, knowing he hadn’t since Wonwoo was his guard. He caught himself smiling as he imagined Mingyu’s face taking in the same scenery, he knew the prince’s face would light up while watching the river that ran along the road. 

It was breathtaking. But then, everything went grey, and his breath felt like it had literally been taken from his lungs. Everyone started shouting commands, to watch their backs or to get to the carriage. Wonwoo lit a small flame in each palm, but it didn’t help him to see further in front of him. He couldn’t even tell where anyone else was. A flame suddenly shot towards his face, which he quickly whisked it away.

“Careful, you almost hit me.” Wonwoo said loudly to be heard over the other confusion.

“Sorry, I can’t tell who’s who.” Another voice rose from the fog in response.

“Don’t bend carelessly.” Wonwoo said back, and a few voices stated agreement. 

The group began to quiet, listening for any signs. There was a pop from somewhere around Wonwoo, followed by a low fizzle. This same noise happened a few more times from various distances. There were some footsteps beside him, and he turned quickly, but the person he saw was just another guard he recognized. The fog was dense, but if they got close enough to someone they could just barely make out their features.

As Wonwoo was about to say something to the guard, they gave a shout. He didn’t turn quick enough. Someone from behind him grabbed his arms, trying them behind his back and something covered his hands. His vision went dark from something covering his head, but soon his body went limp. The last thing he remembered was his knees collapsing after someone roughly jabbed them from behind.

**Mingyu**

He could hardly eat his breakfast that morning. The air was too tense. There was minimal conversation throughout the whole hall. People would come in and out, and each time Mingyu would brace himself for bad news. The Yoon family and the other water benders had only left an hour or so ago, and there was no reason to believe the anti-benders would attack but it was still a possibility. Mingyu was thinking about Wonwoo, and wondering if he would be part of the convoy. He didn’t think to ask anyone about it.

Breakfast finished without any news, so the princes all walked out together, planning on simply going to sit in the back garden to ease their nerves. That bit of relaxation would never come. As they left, two guards were being ushered in. They both looked serious, a grave expression on their faces. Mingyu and Joshua noticed them first, and stopped walking. Minghao hung back as the other two stood in the entrance to the hall, they were hoping to hear what was being said.

One of the guards walked to Mingyu’s father, leaned in and whispered something to him. Mingyu’s father closed his eyes tightly, and dismissed the guard. He then turned to the other two kings, explaining what had happened. The other two had a similar reaction. 

Mingyu ran to the guards, “What did you tell them? What happened?”

The one who spoke to his father shook his head, “It’s not our place to tell you, you should ask your father.”

Mingyu looked to his father, who wasn’t looking in his direction. He looked back at the guards, “Tell me what happened.”

They looked to each other before the first spoke, “There was an attack on the road, many guards were captured. The Water kingdom family made it out unscathed.”

From behind, Mingyu heard Joshua let out a sigh of relief. However, Mingyu couldn’t relax, “Was there a guard named Jeon Wonwoo with them?”

They nodded.

“What happened to him? Is he alright?” Mingyu felt the panic rise inside him.

They shook their heads. “We believe he was captured by the Purple Lightning, he wasn’t accounted for once the smoke cleared.”

Mingyu stumbled backwards, catching himself before he fell, but his head started spinning. The panic in his throat turned sour, his breathing strained in his lungs, and his limbs turned to jelly under his weight. Someone grabbed him before he could fall, and he was immediately surrounded by people. He was back on his feet, but he wasn’t sure what was happening. It felt like his entire being had slipped out of his skull and was somewhere else entirely.

He was aware he was going somewhere, and he knew the people around him were his friends, but everything else was a blur. All he knew was that Wonwoo was in danger. How much depended entirely on what the Purple Lightning wanted with him, and from what Mingyu had heard in all those meetings, they meant for Wonwoo to die.

Whoever was with him, laid him down on his back onto his bed. Someone was asking what was wrong with him. Mingyu tried to calm his breathing down, but it hurt. Someone else started shouting, telling everyone around him to back up, the prince was having a panic attack and needed some space. The world was coming back to him slowly, feeling came back to his fingers and toes first. The room quieted aside from a few people who remained, shuffling their feet.

As he lay in his bed, he tried to push out all his thoughts about Wonwoo and focus on his breathing. He felt like he was dying, the physical pain in his chest matching the emotional pain in his heart and head. Once he could feel his arms again, he covered his face with them, tucking his knees into his chest and rolling onto his side. Someone asked how he was doing.

“I’ll be okay.” He figured he was talking to his mom, but he couldn’t register the tones.

The one he assumed to be his mom asked what he needed, but he didn’t answer for a while. “Who’s here?”

“Your mother and father, as well as Boo Seungkwan. He’s here in case you need some medical attention.”

“It hurts to breathe.” Mingyu had never experienced a panic attack before this moment, so he didn’t realize what that meant. All he knew was that his lungs hurt.

“I can’t do anything about that, it’s normal and it’ll pass.” 

“I need…” Mingyu paused to suck in a deep breath and winced, “Are my friends close?”

“They’re outside.”

“I want to see them.” Mingyu tried to sit up slowly, his muscles still tight.

People left the room, and other people came in. He turned his head and scanned their faces. He made eye contact with Jihoon before he laid back onto his bed, closing his eyes. A moment later, he felt the bed shifting as additional weight was adding. Mingyu opened his eyes, finding himself face to face with Jihoon. The earth bender said nothing, just laid close to him.

“Do you think Wonwoo is scared?” Mingyu asked softly.

“Probably. Are you?” Jihoon responded.

Mingyu nodded, and Jihoon stayed silent. Mingyu began watching Jihoon’s shoulder rise and fall with his breaths. He tried matching it. Eventually, he felt himself calm down enough that he could actually sit up and look at everyone. They all looked worried.

“Sorry,” Mingyu said.

“For what?” Joshua asked. He sounded genuinely surprised at the comment.

“For all that.” Mingyu made a broad gesture with his arm, “And for making you guys worried.”

“You’re allowed to have emotions,” Seungcheol said, “Your reaction is fine.”

“I feel almost embarrassed.” Mingyu admitted, looking at his hands, “Everyone saw it.”

“Maybe they did, but they won’t judge you for it. They would probably react the same way in this situation.” Seungcheol added.

Mingyu only nodded in response. Minghao stood up and walked over the bed, sitting on the edge. “They’ll find him.”

Mingyu shook his head, “I want to find him.” 

**Wonwoo**

Drowsy.

His eyes would barely open. He felt like he was still supposed to be sleeping, like he had woken from a nap too early. His head was still foggy as if his dream had been interrupted; his limbs were heavy and it was hard to move. Where was he? 

He couldn’t even sit up to check, his arms were still tied behind his back and his torso was aching too much to lift himself off the floor. Wonwoo could still lift his head and look around, finding a few others around him in the same position as he was. Another guard made eye contact with him, mouthing the words “what’s going on” but Wonwoo didn’t have a response. He could only suppose they had been kidnapped. Why else would they all be tied up on some strange floor? 

A door opened somewhere above them, and bright light streamed into the room. It was coming from behind him, and he was only barely able to turn his head to see the top of the stairs. Several pairs of feet came down the stairs, all their shoes were the same.

“Which one is he?” One voice asked.

“This one.” Someone else responded and a group of people all surrounded Wonwoo, they were all wearing masks, “And it looks like he’s awake.”

Wonwoo wanted to speak but he couldn’t find his voice due to a mixture of that familiar drowsiness and fear.

“Should we knock him out again?” Another person asked, leaning down slightly.

“Not yet, I wanna talk to him first.” Wonwoo assumed this person was the leader by the way he was standing and talking.

He was pulled off the ground, and a few of them carried him up the stairs, pushing him onto a chair. Wonwoo felt himself almost slip off the chair, but someone stopped him from falling with their knee. The person he assumed was the leader sat in a chair across from him. 

“Can you talk yet?” They asked, crossing their arms.

Wonwoo shook his head.

“That’s fine, I feel like I already know what you’ll say. You want to know where you are, who we are, and what we want from you, right? Well, there’s no fun in answering the first one, and you already know the answer to the second one. The third one is where it gets interesting.Tell me, Jeon Wonwoo, do you think your prince will want you back?”

Wonwoo couldn’t control the way he responded, his body shifted and he felt his eyes widen. Still, he shook his head and tried to get the word “no” out of his mouth.

The person in front of him didn’t move, “We’ll see about that.” They nodded to someone behind Wonwoo.

Just as he was getting his bearings back, a sack was thrown over his head again. It had to have been dipped in something to knock him out, because as soon as Wonwoo took a breath in his eyes felt heavy.

**Seokmin**

As soon as the sack was over Wonwoo’s head, he pulled off his mask. They had gotten lucky. The guard happened to be on the edge of the convoy when they came. They almost got caught by him at one point too, but he had been distracted by some other thoughts. In this location alone, there were 5 guards, the rest of the 20 they had grabbed were scattered in other broken-down sheds throughout the area.

The second part of their plan was working out well. In a few hours, Seokmin would know if Jooheon had successfully been gotten out of the Fire kingdom’s prison, but by that time he would hopefully be in the Earth kingdom. They would be slowly transferring their other prisoners there in the next few days, but Seokmin was taking special precautions with Wonwoo. He and Changkyun were taking him there separately from the rest.

“Get him in the carriage.” Seokmin said, leaving the room to check over his supplies.

Changkyun followed him, “Do you really think the prince is going to come after him himself?”

Seokmin nodded, “Absolutely. But if he doesn’t, plan B kicks in.”

Changkyun smiled and laughed lightly, leaving Seokmin alone. Despite his confidence, he knew it was going to be difficult to convince the Earth kingdom to join them. They hadn’t gone into this blindly, a lot of research had gone in before they even tried branching out. Convincing the benders of the Water kingdom was easy, oppression makes people desperate for an out. The Air kingdom was just as easy to convince, and even the Fire kingdom had been easier than expected. 

Those kingdoms already had a history of putting non-benders down, but the Earth kingdom wasn’t known for it. Seokmin wouldn’t admit it, but he almost wanted to skip going there. He expected too much resistance to their ideas, however, he decided it was worth the risk. Even gaining one new member would be a success to him.

Someone walked into the room and told them the guard was ready for transport; Seokmin picked up his bag and walked to the cart. A disgruntled merchant had donated a few of his old carts to the cause, hoping they would serve a better purpose in the Purple Lightning’s hands. Depending on who asked, they did.

**Vernon**

His dad was out of the castle helping coordinate a response team to the crisis on the road; so while the more qualified benders were out, Vernon stayed behind to be an honorary secretary. Seungkwan was busy helping the medics so he didn’t have anything better to be doing. All he would be doing was sitting at the desk and waiting. 

He wasn’t completely alone, a few guards were told to stay there to guard any prisoners in the cells. As if they would really be much a threat, they were in their cells and had plenty of entertainment to keep them satiated. 

A guard walked into the room, looked at Vernon, and nodded shortly. Vernon returned the nod, but he didn’t recognize this person. He knew most people who worked with his father because he was there constantly. On top of that, this guard seemed almost surprised to see someone at the desk. But Vernon didn’t raise any questions as the guard confidently walked to the back room where all the prisoner files were kept.

_ ‘Must be someone new,’ _ Vernon thought with a shrug, barely glancing at them when they walked back out. He did, however, hear the keys clink against the guard’s armor. Vernon looked up as they left the office, listening for the door to the actual jails to open. When it did, that’s when Vernon stood up. Something didn’t feel right about this guard. There wasn’t any reason for a guard to be taking the keys, there were no prisoner transfers today.

He followed the guard down the stairs, making sure his steps made no noise as he did. He was good at staying quiet, years of sneaking up on his sister was finally paying off. The guard was walking slowly, checking each of the cells as he passed. For a moment, Vernon thought he was overreacting. It was possible that this guard was just doing a cell check, or even was supposed to clean an empty cell.

Those thoughts popped out of his head when he peaked around a corner to see the guard unlocking the cell door where a Purple Lightning member was being held. He furrowed his brow as he watched. 

“About time you got here.” An unknown voice said.

“This is exactly when I was supposed to be here, be grateful.” The other said.

“Anyone around?” The first said.

“Just some kid, but that’s it.” The two walked out of the cell, and the one dressed as the guard kicked the cell door shut.

Vernon, without thinking, stepped out from around the corner, “I’m not a kid.”

The two stopped, and the prisoner groaned while the “guard” pulled a club from his holster. Vernon knew this person wasn’t a bender immediately, benders don’t typically carry weapons like that on them. Vernon pulled his arm back and threw a punch, flames jumping from his arm and shooting towards the two.

They both ducked, the fake guard ran towards Vernon, swinging the club behind him. Vernon was able to jump out of the way before the club came in contact with his stomach, and he kicked a leg out, another flame coming from his foot as he kicked. The non bender seemed ready for the move, jumping out of the way again. Vernon backed up, forgetting there was another person behind him.

The other kicked the back of Vernon’s knee and it sent him sprawling onto the floor, his elbows smacking the stone and pain shot through his arms. He yelped slightly, but raised a hand to push a fireball in some random direction. The two stood above him, and the one dressed as a guard kicked Vernon hard in the stomach. He saw stars and almost threw up.

“Should we take him?” The prisoner asked.

“No, it’d be too obvious. Let’s just get out of here.” The other said just before smacking Vernon in the side of the head with the club. 

Vernon’s vision blurred as he fell back onto the ground. Before going out cold, he watched the two run off. As he drifted off, he felt fear like he had never felt before. 

~~~

He woke some time later to a cold feeling in his head. It wasn’t on his head, he felt it  _ in _ his head. The pain in the other parts of his body didn’t bother him, whether or not it was there or not didn’t even come to him. All he knew was this weird sensation in his head. He opened his eyes and the world was white and bright.

‘ _ I’m dead!’ _ He suddenly started panicking. His limbs twitched but he didn’t have complete control over them, he could only slightly move them. This made him panic more, he really must be dead. 

“Calm down!” A voice shouted, it sounded distant but also close. Everything was so confusing. Vernon wanted to call out to the voice, but when he opened his mouth no sounds would come out.

“Vernon, you’re fine! Please relax!” The same voice said again, it was coming closer now and it was starting to sound familiar. 

His vision was starting to come back to him; the world wasn’t white nor was it particularly bright. He started being able to recognize where he was, having spent enough time in the castle infirmary as a kid to know the rooms by heart. As the cold feeling started leaving his head, he started being able to move his limbs again and realized that he didn’t feel any pain in his stomach or knee.

“What’s happening?” He found his voice again.

“You got hit in the head pretty hard.” The voice responded, it was coming from behind his head, “I had to heal you.”

As the cold completely dissipated, Vernon shifted his head to see who was talking. Seungkwan was sitting behind him, bending some water back into a bucket. Vernon tried to sit up, but Seungkwan pressed down on his shoulders, holding him to the bed.

“Take it easy, you need to rest more.” Seungkwan said, dancing his fingers softly across Vernon’s neck.

“What happened? Where are the people who attacked me?” Vernon asked, grabbing Seungkwan’s hands and holding them next to his head.

“We were going to ask you the same thing. The people who attacked you were long gone by the time you were found.” Seungkwan said, pulling his hands away and standing.

“Where are you going?” Vernon asked, trying to sit up again.

Seungkwan shot him a warning glance that made Vernon lay back down again, “I have to tell your dad that you’re awake. He’s going to ask you some questions.”

“Are you coming back?”

Seungkwan shook his head, “I have to help somewhere else.” He looked towards the door, before quickly leaning in and kissing Vernon’s lips lightly, “Once I’m done though, I’ll come back. For now, lay there.”

Vernon smiled as he watched Seungkwan leave, then looking back at the ceiling as he waited for his dad to show up. When he did, Vernon tried to sit up again, but even his father told him to lay back down. Seungkwan must have said something to Vernon’s dad about it.

His dad sat next to the bed and told Vernon to tell him about what happened. So he started at the beginning, explaining how he didn’t recognize the person who came in and why he followed them into the bloc. He was almost embarrassed to talk about the fight, considering the outcome, but he had to. His dad listened intently.

“As your father, I have to say I’m upset that you went into that fight without thinking. You could have died, if Seungkwan wasn’t here I don’t know what would have happened. You did the right thing, but you shouldn’t have gone alone.”

“There wasn’t anyone else here.”

“I know, but keep that in mind next time. Since you’re talking, I’m going to send in someone to get a description of the person you saw. After that, I’ll let you know if you’re needed for more information,” His dad stood, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Vernon only nodded in response and his father left; now he was really wanting to sit up, he wanted to stretch his arms and legs. The next person came in, sat down, and Vernon told him everything he could remember about what the person looked like. They left.

Since he was alone now, he decided to sit up. His head swam a little as he moved, but it wasn’t enough to make him lay down again. He swung his legs off the bed, sticking them out and stretching before placing his feet on the ground and standing. There was a dull ache in the knee that got hit, and his abdomen felt like he had just done one hundred sit ups, but he felt fine otherwise. He lifted his arms above his head and stood on his toes as he stretched out more.

His head started to spin, he ended up losing balance and plopped back onto the bed. He leaned back onto his elbows and felt a similar dull ache in his arms, almost forgetting that he slammed them into the ground earlier.

The door opened again, and this time Soonyoung rushed in. He looked at Vernon, breaking into a smile when he saw his friend was sitting up and looked very much alive, “I thought you were going to die!”

“You’re the second person to say that to me,” Vernon said.

“Well, a lot of people thought you  _ were  _ dead when they found you. You were just laying on the ground and you didn’t respond to people trying to wake you.” Soonyoung sat in the same chair everyone else had, “But Seungkwan stepped in, checked you, and said ‘he’s not dead, just unconscious.’ Then he made everyone leave the room so he could work on your brain or something.”

Vernon shuddered, “It sounds gross when you say it for some reason, but I know it wasn’t that bad.”

“What did it feel like?”

“It was cold, but other than that I felt numb.”

Soonyoung looked almost disappointed, “I guess that makes sense.”

“Hey, how’s Mingyu?” Vernon lightly hit Soonyoung’s leg as he asked.

Soonyoung sucked in a breath, “Not great, especially not after hearing about what happened to you. I don’t think he can take much more bad news, so once you’re cleared to leave here you have to talk to him first.”

“So nothing new about Wonwoo?”

Soonyoung shook his head, “The castle’s been in complete chaos all morning. Everyone has been running around, and looking for information that just doesn’t exist. There haven't been any demands yet, my dad said we can’t be certain about anything until then.”

Vernon nodded slowly, “We’re just going to have to sit around and do nothing until then?”

“Yeah.”

Vernon sighed, “I can’t imagine that actually going well.”

The door opened again, Seungkwan walked in looking tired. As soon as he noticed Vernon was sitting up, he started shouting. He was saying that Vernon was still healing and needed to rest to fully recover, he shouldn’t be sitting up, and no one ever listens to him when he makes recommendations. Vernon reached his hands out and grabbed Seungkwan’s arms, pulling him closer before laying back onto the bed and pulling the other on top of him.

Soonyoung stood up, “I think I should get going now.”

**Soonyoung**

After leaving the infirmary, he went directly to Mingyu’s room. He doubted the prince had left his room since that morning, and he figured everyone else would still be there too; even Joshua and Junhui were a possibility. When he knocked on the door, he realized immediately that he had been right. The door was opened by Seungcheol, and the voices of everyone else filtered through the open door.

They went silent when Soonyoung walked in, anticipating an update on any of the events.

“Vernon’s awake,” he gave the good news first, and hoped they wouldn’t ask about Wonwoo.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

“Did you talk to him?” Jihoon asked, he was still sitting next to Mingyu and Soonyoung assumed he hadn’t left that spot at all.

“Yeah, for a little bit. He seems fine, but Seungkwan wants him to stay and rest some more.” He thought about Vernon pulling Seungkwan onto him before he left, Soonyoung looked over at Minghao briefly and longed to do the same thing. There haven't been many good opportunities to be alone together recently.

“Did he tell you what happened to him?” Mingyu asked this time, his voice sounded less strained now than it had that morning.

“It didn’t come up, I only asked about how it felt when Seungkwan was doing that thing to his brain.” Soonyoung sat on the floor, his back against the wall. As he sat, Minghao got off his chair and came to sit next to him.

“You’ve never been healed by a water bender before?” Joshua asked in surprise.

“We don’t have many water benders in our kingdom,” Soonyoung shrugged, “So it hasn’t happened yet.”

“Then what do you do when someone gets really injured?” Junhui asked now.

“We have our own healers.” Jihoon answered.

Joshua and Junhui nodded slowly, imagining how different their lives would have been without the water bender healers in their kingdom.

“Did you,” Mingyu’s voice caught in his throat and Soonyoung knew exactly what he was about to ask, “hear anything about Wonwoo?”

Soonyoung shook his head sadly. No one really expected him to have heard anything, but they were still slightly disappointed. Minghao took Soonyoung’s hand, stitching their fingers together, and holding tightly. It took Soonyoung by surprise, there were so many people in the room, they would all see it. He didn’t pull his hand away, realizing how much he needed a positive touch in this moment. Everything was a nightmare, but holding Minghao’s hand helped him relax.

**Jeonghan**

He was angry. Other than that, he was completely, physically, fine. After the attack, he completely shut down, stewing in his anger as they completed their return trip. His dad was boasting that he knew all along they would be alright even if there was an attack; everyone of “importance” turned out alright. Jeonghan knew there were some guards who had gotten injured or captured in the attack, and the way his dad devalued their lives felt like a slap. He tried to reason with himself that he shouldn’t be angry about it, but he couldn’t help it.

Once they reached the Water kingdom line, the convoy was covered with more guards until they reached the castle. As soon as they passed into the wall, Jeonghan asked to get out of the carriage. His request was granted.

He jumped out and took off running, out of the castle walls and to the river. He wasn’t trying to run away, and everyone knew that. It was a common occurrence that the prince would run to the river and disappear for hours. When there, no one knew where he went. He would jump into the river and be gone until it started to get dark. His guards hated it.

Still, he ran to his usual spot and jumped into the cold water immediately bending an air pocket around himself. He fell to the bottom, it wasn’t a far drop, and sat. The ground was damp and gross, but it was quiet and he was alone.

Part of him wished he hadn’t told Seungkwan to stay in the Fire kingdom. He was going to be alone a lot more often now. Just for one more week, then Joshua would come back for him and he could finally get out of this hellhole. He couldn’t believe he had survived with an egomaniac for a father all these years, but he was glad his mask was finally slipping and people were starting to see what kind of man his father actually was.

He closed his eyes and was really beginning to relax when someone grabbed his collar and pulled him out of the water. His guard was dripping as he pulled Jeonghan onto the bank.

“What was that for?” Jeonghan snapped.

“Your father wants you back in the castle.”

“He told me I could leave,” Jeonghan squeezed the water out of his hair.

“He didn’t say out of the gates, but now you have to stay inside the castle.”

Jeonghan rolled his eyes as the guard grabbed his arm again and pulled him back to the castle. Of course he would be grounded as soon as they returned home. His running off was probably not the only reason, but it would certainly be used against him. He expected there would be some speech soon, and his father wanted to make sure Jeonghan wouldn’t be present to embarrass him again.

The guard finally let go once Jeonghan was inside the castle, but it was implied that the prince should just go to his room. Jeonghan tried to calculate how long this grounding would last, but knew that it was futile to even try to rationalize his father’s behavior. He passed their family portrait on the way to his room, he kept his head down as he passed.

**Wonwoo**

He woke up in another place he didn’t recognize. This time, there was a gag in his mouth and one of his legs was shackled to a wall. Another difference was that he was completely alone. He wanted to try his best to remain calm and emotionless, but he was starting to crack. There was a pit forming in his stomach and throat, he could feel the emotions trying to bubble over and into the world. 

His mind jumped to thoughts of Mingyu and he finally broke. Tears spilled onto his cheeks, and his shoulders shook as he tried to hold them back. The gag made it hard to breathe as his nose started feeling full. He had never felt more scared than right now, the anxiety was beginning to set in. Wonwoo rolled onto his back, his arms pressed uncomfortably underneath him. He ignored it as he tried to suck in as much breath as he could through his nose.

If he hadn’t been so stubborn, maybe he wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. He should have just talked to Mingyu like he wanted. There was so much he had to say, and now Wonwoo didn’t know if he would ever get the chance to. A door opened above him, much like how it did in the other room. This time Wonwoo was able to actually see who was coming down the stairs. It was the person from earlier, and he was still wearing the mask.

He threw a metal plate onto the ground, and all the food that was on it splattered onto the floor, “There’s your dinner.”

Wonwoo looked up at the person, not understanding how anyone was expected to eat with a gag in their mouth, but they turned and walked back up the stairs. The door shut with a bang. He looked back at the plate and his stomach flipped, whatever it was it looked like it was scraped from the bottom of a waste container. He swung his foot out and kicked the plate away, he was starting to smell it now.

Whatever had been used to knock him out made his stomach feel awful, he wouldn’t have wanted to eat anyway. He knew his captors would be doing everything they could to keep him too weak to actually bend. Any options of escape would require it, but he couldn’t bring himself to expend more energy to actually bend. Wonwoo laid back onto his side and curled his knees into his chest. 

The Purple Lightning wanted Mingyu to try to come back for Wonwoo, but he doubted that would happen. He replayed the last moment he had with Mingyu, and remembered the anger and pain on the prince’s face. Even though Vernon told him Mingyu was devastated at his departure, Wonwoo had a hard time believing it. There was no way the prince would come for him.


	9. Ch.9

_A few days passed after the attack, the Purple Lightning made no demands until they were sure they could progress comfortably. The Air kingdom had come to a decision to leave the Fire kingdom secretly in order to avoid another attack. The only ones who were aware of this decision were the 3 remaining kings, the princes, and the small number of Air kingdom residents who had come along. Joshua would be leaving with the group, but had planned to split off from them to go to the Water kingdom after discussing it with his father. He would be meeting Jeonghan._

_The Earth kingdom would remain in the Fire kingdom until a plan had been made on how to meet the demands of the Purple Lightning. The group had announced their arrival in the Earth kingdom, and the Earth king would be taking no chances of upsetting the balance between benders and non-benders in his kingdom. Mingyu, on the other hand, had a hard time thinking of something other than getting Wonwoo back. He finally had an idea of where Wonwoo was, and was planning his own way to get him back. Vernon was the first to agree to come, Seungkwan, Soonyoung, Jihoon agreed after some consideration, and Minghao agreed once Soonyoung did. Seungcheol, on the other hand, was still undecided. Regardless of his actual decision, he would have to follow if the prince did._

_The Purple Lightning was working on convincing the residents of the Earth kingdom to join their cause, but were, as expected, finding it difficult to do so. They held a few meetings that were not heavily attended, but Seokmin pressed on. He started doing recruiting on his own. On this particular day, he was canvasing a new market area he hadn’t been to before._

**Chan**

He placed another crate out front of the shop, brushing the dust off his hands after he stood. The sun was hot that day, but it stopped bothering him after a while. He was just waiting till his parents would let him run off to the lake for a break; it was a busy day so he didn’t think that would happen for another couple of hours. He went around to the back of their shop to pick up another crate to put out front. This time when he came around, there was a boy around his age looking at the apples. Chan smiled politely as he passed by to put the crate he was holding in its place.

“Excuse me, how much is an apple?” The boy asked, picking one up.

“Just one? It’s just a bronze piece, but you can get a dozen for a silver.” Chan answered, trying to remember how his parents made deals with people.

“I don’t have a bag for more than one.” The boy said, raising his arms to show he was empty handed.

“We have some if you want one.” Chan responded, pointing inside the store, “Should I get you one?”

The boy nodded, and Chan went to grab a burlap bag from the back wall. He came back and handed it to the boy, who exchanged it for a silver coin. Chan thanked him and was about to go back into the shop but the boy stopped him.

“I’m new here, I moved in with my parents a few weeks ago. What’s your name?” The boy asked, filling the bag.

“Chan, and you?” He was surprised that someone was starting a conversation with him, most people just paid and left.

“Seokmin.”

Chan nodded slowly, not sure where to go with the conversation.

“I think we’re around the same age, so I was wondering if I could ask you a question about something.” Seokmin said, tying the bag shut without looking at it.

“Sure, go for it.”

“What do non-benders do around here for fun?” 

Chan almost laughed, “What’s that supposed to mean? We probably do the same things as other non-benders from other kingdoms.”

Seokmin’s eyebrow shot up, “You’re not a bender too?”

Chan nodded, “There’s a lot of us here, where are you from? You act like you don’t see many non-benders.”

“I’m from the Water kingdom.” Seokmin answered.

“Oh, wow, I’ve never been there before!” Chan turned towards his mother who was watching him closely, “Listen, I have to get back to work, but I want to talk with you about the Water kingdom, it sounds interesting. When I get off work, where can I find you?”

Seokmin waved his hand, “I’ll probably be in the town square for a while.”

“I’ll go there first, but what if you aren’t there?”

“The tavern probably,” Seokmin shrugged, “I tend not to go home that often.”

Chan nodded, “Okay, well, I’ll see you later?”

Seokmin nodded and stuck his hand out to him, Chan took his hand and shortly shook it. They waved to each other as Chan walked back into the shop. He handed his mother the silver piece.

“Made a new friend?” His mother asked as she put the piece away.

Chan nodded, “I think so.”

“Good, now can you go down to the cellar and get the turnips?” 

**Seungcheol**

“You can’t be serious.” He said in disbelief.

“I am!” Mingyu shouted, pouting slightly.

“It’s not a bad plan.” Jihoon tried to reason, “It could use some changes, but it could work.”

“You’ll get yourselves caught, or worse, killed.” Seungcheol couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Mingyu actually suggested walking _into_ a Purple Lightning meeting with only the 6 of them against at least 30 of their enemies. No one else seemed to think it was a bad plan except for Seungcheol.

“We’re all benders, I think we can take on however many of them there are.” Soonyoung said, sounding incredibly confident.

Seungcheol looked around the group, pointing at the princes, “You two know it won’t be easy. You heard what kind of weapons they have. If they throw one smoke bomb, we won’t be able to see anything. How do you expect to bend safely in that?”

“They won’t be able to see either!” Mingyu replied.

“How is that any better?” Seungcheol almost snapped.

“They wear those masks,” Minghao suddenly piped up.

Seungcheol gave Mingyu an exasperated look as he gestured towards Minghao, “It won’t work, Mingyu. We have to come up with something better than that.”

“At your rate, we’ll never get Wonwoo back!” Mingyu snapped, sinking into the chair.

“This isn’t something we can just rush into, without proper planning we might end up getting him killed, and I’m trying to prevent any death.” Seungcheol’s voice softened now, he didn’t like getting harsh with Mingyu on issues around Wonwoo. It was obvious that Mingyu was finally processing things better now, but he was still incredibly sensitive about it.

Seungkwan cleared his throat, “He has a point, just because we know where Wonwoo is doesn’t even mean we know _where_ he is.”

Mingyu sunk deeper into his chair, crossing his arms. 

“We’ll get him back,” Seungcheol said, trying his best to sound confident. In reality, he wasn’t so sure about it. The Purple Lightning made one statement to the kingdoms then went silent, and the deadline to meet their request was approaching quickly. He knew the plan needed to be made soon, but it was hard to plan something so big on such little information. If only he could get in contact with some of the non-benders he knew that lived in the Earth kingdom. Then it hit him. “Chan.” He said, looking up at the other earth benders in the room.

The earth benders perked up, giving each other knowing looks.

“Who’s Chan?” Mingyu asked, studying their looks intensely.

“He’s a friend of ours, a non-bender who lives in the village. If we could get a letter to him, we could ask him to get information about the Purple Lightning and send it back to us.” Seungcheol spoke quickly.

“You think he would do that?” Soonyoung asked, nodding nonetheless.

“It’s worth a shot. We could get the letter out tomorrow.” Seungcheol responded.

“It could be risky though, what if he gets caught?” Jihoon asked.

“We could ask some of the non-bender guards to keep an eye out for him.” Minghao suggested.

“It might work, who should write the letter?” Jihoon nodded in approval.

“I’ll do it,” Soonyoung volunteered, already standing up. 

**Joshua**

His dad carefully laid a map out onto the table, Joshua stood opposite to his father.

“Walk me through the path, I need to know you have it memorized.” His father said, not looking up from the map.

“Leaving over the west side of the wall, down the wooded path to the river, into the river then walking south till we reach the mouth of the river. From there, there’s an old path. We take that until we pass the old mill, after that we get off the path and walk behind the mill until we get to that lake. Go across the lake, then it’s a straight shot to the mountain.”

His father nodded as Joshua recited the path. It almost annoyed Joshua that he had to keep repeating the same thing, but it made his father feel better about the plan if he got it right.

“Perfect. Do you still have that Water kingdom uniform?” His father asked, sitting down.

Joshua nodded, and his father smiled.

“I still feel nervous letting you go with everything that’s going on.” His father said suddenly.

Joshua sat now as well, “We’ll be fine.”

“I know, but King Yoon is ruthless. Once you two are gone, you’re on your own. I can’t help you, or else I’ll risk a diplomatic nightmare.”

“Yeah, we’ve thought about it.”

His father nodded, “Your mother is taking that particularly hard. She doesn’t like not knowing when she’ll be able to see you again. You are our only child.”

“Hopefully it won’t be too long.” Joshua said without thinking of the implications. They would only return to the Air kingdom once Jeonghan’s father died.

“Careful,” His father warned.

Joshua tried to laugh it off, “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

His father nodded, “It’s hard to believe we will only see each other for a few more days.” His father then went on to talk about when Joshua was growing up. He didn’t mean to tune his father out, but he did. Everything he was saying had been said before when he turned 18. 

When his father stopped talking to stare into the distance, Joshua stood, “I’m going to find Junhui. I still have to talk to him about this.”

His father only nodded in response as Joshua left. He actually had no intention of finding Junhui at that moment, his friend was already aware of the plan, and had been for a while. Instead, he walked to the Fire kingdom’s wing, hoping he could find some of the other princes to talk with. Mingyu’s guard was standing outside his room, and he allowed Joshua to come to the door and knock.

The hushed voices behind the door fell silent.

“Who is it?” Mingyu called.

“It’s Joshua.”

“Oh, come in.”

Joshua pushed the door open, finding more people than he was expecting. Soonyoung was sitting and leaning over Mingyu’s desk, Minghao was standing over him, and the rest were in that general area. 

Joshua blew the door shut, and took a few steps towards them, “What’s going on here?”

“N-nothing!” Soonyoung answered, leaning his head against his hand and forcing a smile. Minghao slapped the back of Soonyoung’s head gently.

“Sure,” Joshua nodded suspiciously, walking closer to the group.

The group looked at each other and started mouthing a conversation between them. Joshua had trouble reading their lips, but could catch the words “tell him.”

“Tell me what?” Joshua was standing next to Seungcheol now, he crossed his arms.

“We’re working on a plan to get Wonwoo back,” Mingyu said.

“And you’re doing that by… writing a letter?” Joshua stood on his toes to see the paper and writing equipment on the desk, “Are you planning on asking them nicely for him back?”

“No, this is a letter to someone who lives in the Earth kingdom, we’re asking him to help us.” Mingyu replied, sounding slightly annoyed.

“You trust him?” Joshua asked, looking between the earth benders, who all nodded in response, “Can I help?”

“How?” Mingyu asked, he perked up slightly.

“Well, how were you planning on getting the letter to this person? By bird?” They all nodded in response, and Joshua smiled, “I can deliver it. I brought my glider with me, so I could fly it there and make sure it gets to him personally.”

“Someone could see you.” Seungcheol said quickly, stepping back slightly.

“Not if I land outside the village.” Joshua countered.

“There is a nice wooded area just on the outskirts you could use for cover,” Minghao said, “Plus, at least we would know that he gets it in time.”

“Why do you suddenly want to help us?” Mingyu asked.

Joshua shrugged, “Is it not enough that I do?”

“We could use his help,” Minghao added.

“I agree,” Mingyu said, “I guess I was just surprised. I’m just not used to us being friends, I guess.”

Joshua smiled, nodding to signal that he understood. In truth, he wasn’t used to it yet. He went his whole life thinking he was supposed to hate both fire and earth benders, but now he was willingly helping them without them asking first. He stood back as they quickly finished their letter.

Minghao turned to him once they finished, “When are you going to leave?”

“Just before it gets too dark.”

“You can fly at night?” Jihoon asked.

Joshua nodded, “The moonlight is enough.”

“Great, do you know the way to the Earth kingdom?” Minghao asked, and Joshua nodded, “Good, Chan lives on the third street from the main entrance. He lives above a fruit and vegetable shop, they may be closing when you get there. If it’s closed, go around the side and there is a set of stairs to his home.”  
“And if he isn’t there?” Joshua asked, taking mental notes as Minghao spoke.

“Just ask his parents where he is, and when he’ll be back.” Soonyoung said.

“Leave the letter with them.” Minghao added.

Joshua nodded, “Got it.”

**Chan**

He had to work the rest of the day, the sun was completely set by the time he finally brought the last crate back into the shop. Feeling exhausted, he put his hands on his hips and sighed heavily. There was a knock on the shop’s door.

“We just closed.” Chan said, turning towards the door.

“That’s okay, I came to talk to Chan.” The person responded. They had a soft voice, one that Chan didn’t recognize. 

He approached the door with caution, and opened it slowly. The person on the other side had a hood on, but Chan could just barely make out their face in the dim lantern light. They looked nice, and they smiled kindly as Chan peered out the door.

“Are you Chan?” They asked, Chan nodded in response, “Great, I’m-You can call me Jisoo, I have to give you something. Can I come in? It’ll only be a few minutes.”

Chan nodded, still a little nervous about the sudden encounter, but let Jisoo into the shop nonetheless. As Jisoo came in, he reached into his pocket and Chan sucked in a breath. He thought this stranger would suddenly pull out a weapon, and then he thought how stupid he had been to let them in. But, instead of a weapon, Jisoo pulled a letter from his pocket.

“A letter?” Chan asked, taking it slowly.

Jisoo nodded, “It’s urgent, I need you to read it now. But don’t read it aloud, it’s top secret.”

Chan nodded slowly and opened the letter. He barely recognized the handwriting.

_“Chan,_

_We need your help with something, it’s a bit dangerous but we think you can handle it. Recently, there was an attack on a few benders by an anti-bender group, called the Purple Lightning, and many Fire kingdom guards were captured. One of them is close with Prince Mingyu of the Fire kingdom, and we are trying to get him back. They placed some heavy demands in exchange, but we’re all worried that they’ll still do something to him regardless._

_Since we trust you, and you are a non-bender, we were hoping you could get into their meetings and find where they’re hiding someone named Jeon Wonwoo. You will be compensated, and we can offer some extra protection if you feel you need it. Please let us know, soon. We only have a few weeks left to do anything._

_Signed,_

_Soonyoung, Minghao, Seungcheol, and Jihoon”_

Chan had to read the letter twice, he was shocked that they even thought of him for something like this. They only visited his shop, and sometimes they had conversations but Chan had assumed they would just forget about him once they left. It made him feel excited that they asked him, “They told you to bring me this?”

Jisoo nodded, “I’m supposed to get a response.”

“I’ll do it.” He didn’t even think about it, it shouldn’t be too hard.

“Are you sure? It could be dangerous.” Jisoo asked.

“Yeah, I can handle it. But once I know, how will I get the information to them? Are you planning on staying here until I get something?”

Jisoo shook his head, “I can’t stay. You’ll have to write a letter to Prince Mingyu when you find something.”

“I can’t just send a letter to a prince, commoners can’t do that.”

“You can if you show the letter carriers this,” Jisoo pulled something else from his pocket, it had an official seal on it, “They won’t ask you any questions about it, but keep it hidden until you need to use it.”

Chan took the slip, and eyed it curiously. He had never seen a slip like this before, there had never been a reason to need one until now. 

“I have to go, but I’ll tell them you’ll help. Thank you.” Jisoo smiled, reaching out to shake Chan’s hand.

Chan took it lightly, “I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all we need.” Jisoo replied before walking out the door. Chan followed him out, watching the stranger walk down the street. He turned a corner and disappeared. 

Chan quickly locked the shop’s door, and rushed up to his home. His mother was setting out the dishes for their supper as he came in, and told him the food would be ready soon. He only nodded in response, hiding the letter and the ticket in his pocket as he went to his room. Immediately, he looked for a space to hide both items, settling on the bottom of his clothing drawer. No one would look there after all, it was probably the safest spot to hide them.

His mother called out that he needed to come to the table, and he went. The whole family talked around him, and Chan offered little to their conversation himself. No one asked if something was going on, they all assumed he was just tired from a long day of work. They also wrongly assumed that he would go to bed right after the meal, but as soon as he finished eating, he stated that he was going out. They didn’t stop to ask where he was going.

He ran out the door, down the stairs, and towards the town square. Chan doubted Seokmin would still be there at this hour, but he would pass it on the way to the tavern anyway. As well, many people posted flyers in the square, and he might be able to start getting information on Purple Lightning meetings. Although, he knew it was an illegal group, so he was doubtful they would just publicly post that kind of information.

And, just as he had thought, Seokmin was nowhere to be seen and no flyers had been posted. He made his way to the tavern next, following the noise and music that flowed out of it’s open doors. It was unusual that he was going by himself, but he didn’t even think about inviting his other friends to come along. 

Chan poked his head inside, quickly scanning to see if Seokmin was inside. He found his new friend at a large table with a few other people he didn’t recognize. Their unfamiliar faces didn’t bother him, he walked up to the table and sat. 

Seokmin recognized him instantly, “Here’s the person I was telling you all about! Chan, right?”

Chan nodded, and the others around Seokmin greeted him.

“Seokmin told us you’re a non-bender too!” The one who introduced himself as Changkyun said.

“Yeah, are you?”

Changkyun nodded, “This whole group is.”

“Oh, great! Are you all new to the area?” Chan asked, signaling to the barkeeper for his usual drink.

“Yep, all from the Water kingdom.” Changkyun answered, throwing his arm around Seokmin’s shoulders. The group was clearly already drunk.

“Hopefully you’ll all like the Earth kingdom better, obviously you left there for a reason.” Chan said without thinking.

Seokmin groaned loudly, “You’ve never been there, and I hope you never do. It’s the fucking worst!”

The table shouted in agreement, and Changkyun rolled his eyes, “I hope we never go back.”

Chan took a long sip of his beer, “What’s so bad about it?”

Seokmin slammed his hands onto the table, spilling a few drops of drinks as he did, and leaned in, “Everything! The King, the Queen, even the Prince is rotten!”

“Can’t exist as a non-bender there, the benders all think they’re better than you for no goddamn reason.” Changkyun added, “I got robbed once and the guards all laughed at me when I asked for help.”

Chan wrinkled his nose, “That does sound terrible.”

“Hey,” Seokmin leaned in more, standing up from the bench, “You ever heard of the Purple Lightning before?”

“A little,” Chan answered. Apparently it was this easy to get information on that group.

“I heard they’re here now too, we were too scared to join them in the Water kingdom, but maybe here wouldn’t be too bad. You wanna go check out a few meetings with us sometime?”

Chan nodded, “When?”

“I heard there’s one tomorrow night, we can get you after you finish work.” Changkyun answered.

“Sure, let’s do it.” Chan felt a slight amount of worry, these people seemed more serious about the cause than he was. He just hoped that he could fake the same ideaology.

**Mingyu**

He was pacing his room, waiting for Joshua to get back. Everyone was in his room for the same reason. The longer they waited, the more Mingyu sweat. He was worried about everything that could have gone wrong; from Joshua crashing somewhere, to him getting caught by either the palace guards or by the Purple Lightning, or even that Joshua had to spend a lot of time convincing this Chan person. The panic was about to fully take over when his window blew open and Joshua stepped onto the frame. He jumped onto the floor with ease, a smile plastered on his face.

Everyone looked at him expectantly, “He’s in.” Joshua announced.

They all breathed a sigh of relief, and Mingyu had to sit down. He felt slightly overwhelmed for some reason, and he couldn’t figure out why. He knew he was happy that Chan had agreed, but he was still so anxious that this person wouldn’t be able to find anything out in time.

“Does everything seem okay in the village?” Minghao asked.

Joshua nodded, “It looked lively, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong.”

Minghao looked pleased.

“Now what should we do?” Jihoon piped up.

“You should probably get to work on a good plan to get Wonwoo out, at least a few would be good.” Joshua suggested, walking towards the door.

“What are you going to do now?” Mingyu asked.

“I think I’ll go to bed, unless you all still need me for something.”

“I have to ask you something, privately.” Mingyu said, everyone looked at him in surprise, “Could you all give us the room?”

Everyone nodded and slowly filed out, Jihoon was the last out and he shut the door behind him. Joshua sat in a chair across from where Mingyu stood.

“You and Jeonghan are leaving soon?” Mingyu asked, leaning against his bed frame. Joshua nodded silently, “If we need you, will you come back?”

Joshua sighed deeply, and thought for a moment, “Yes.”

“How will we find you?”

“Send a letter to the Air kingdom addressed to me, my father will take care of it.” Joshua answered.

“There might not be time for that.”

Joshua didn’t answer for a while. “We’ll be at the base of the only mountain range in the Air kingdom, a few miles from the old mill. You are the only one allowed to know this, and you’re the only one who’s allowed to find us. I won’t help if you bring others, I hope you understand why.”

Mingyu nodded, “Thank you.”

Joshua stood, “I hope you can find Wonwoo. I’m sure he misses you.”

**Wonwoo**

He hadn’t seen another person, had a conversation, or even touched someone else in weeks. Emotionally and physically, he was starving. At some point, he ran out of energy to even cry. Most of his days in captivity were spent in dreamless, light sleeps. The days blurred, and he only knew time passed because every so often food and water would be shoved into the room. He had learned to accept his position.

This night, he turned onto his back, the chains digging into his raw wrists but the pain was somewhat bearable. There was a small, grimey window at the top of the wall furthest to him. He could just barely see out of it; the only sights were the tips of trees and a sliver of sky. There were a few stars that night. He knew he wasn’t in the Fire kingdom any longer, but he would still wonder if Mingyu was able to see the same sky he was seeing. Although, the prince would be able to see more than he could. 

If it was nighttime, Mingyu was probably out in the courtyard, just finishing up his practice fighting with Vernon, like nothing had changed. Unless, it was later than Wonwoo realized. The prince could be taking a bath, or otherwise getting ready for bed. If he was already sleeping, Wonwoo wondered what he was dreaming about. 

He closed his eyes and began imagining another scenario. All his awake moments were spent in some daydream that he would change the plot of every so often to keep it interesting. The first few days he imagined coming back to Mingyu and them fighting about it, but eventually making up. Recently, however, his daydreams were less angry. This time, he thought about finally being released from wherever this way. He would run back to the Fire kingdom without stopping.

The guards, in his mind, were only ones that he knew, and would recognize him immediately, letting him into the palace without question. It was just beginning to be morning when he would get there, but he would make his way to Mingyu’s room. Wonwoo wouldn’t knock, he would just walk in. The prince would be sleeping with his back to the door, and Wonwoo would climb into the bed next to him, grabbing him tightly. Mingyu woke up, startled at the presence but once he turned to see who it was, he would settle. They kiss.

Wonwoo, back in reality, smiled slightly but it turned to a frown quickly. He forgot what it felt like to hold someone, and he forgot what it was like to kiss Mingyu. As well, he knew all of this was just in his head. He still doubted Mingyu knew or cared that Wonwoo had been captured. The best he could hope for after getting out would be forgiveness. Wonwoo would ask the king for his position back, he just needed to be around Mingyu again and admit that he had been stupid. All this time to think gave him so much perspective.

The whole time he was refusing to talk, he did love Mingyu.

**Jeonghan**

Since being back in his own castle, he had spent most of his time alone. Neither of his parents wanted him around, his sister was stuck in her lessons most days, and he didn’t have many friends in the kingdom since Seungkwan stayed away. He would be present when his father had to do his kingly duties, but that was more of a formality. As soon as court would end, he would go back to being alone.

Some nights, his sister would visit him. She was suspicious of him.

“What’s this for?” She asked that night, holding up a bag Jeonghan had gotten specifically to pack clothes to take with him.

“Nothing, I just thought it looked nice.” Jeonghan snatched the bag from her and shoved it into his dresser.

She made an annoyed face, “Why can’t I look at it?”

“Because I don’t want you to,” Jeonghan said back, sticking his tongue out at her.

She flopped onto the floor, her dress poofing out around her in a circle, “I want to buy something nice.”

“I’ll go buy something for you if you’ll stop complaining.”

She sighed, “No, _I_ want to do it. I haven’t even been in the village since I was a baby. You get to have all the fun, and I stay here.”

Jeonghan almost reminded her that he barely left the castle, but decided against it. He sat down in front of her, “Hey,” his volume dropped to a whisper, “You know you can just leave, right?”

Her eyes narrowed, “Stop it.”

“I’m being serious.”

“I know, but you can’t say things like that.”

“You know prince Mingyu from the Fire kingdom? He has a little sister too, you could run off there and befriend her.”

His sister gave him another suspicious look, “I have friends here though.”

“Yeah, Seungkwan’s older sisters. Who, I remind you, are also older than you. You need more friends your age.”

“Are you okay?” She suddenly asked.

“I’m fine, why?” Jeonghan leaned back.

“You’re acting weird, telling me to go make new friends and hiding things from me. I don’t like it.”

“Am I not allowed to be worried about you?”

“Not when you also hide a random bag that is clearly for travel from me.” She crossed her arms.

“Really, it’s nothing,” Jeonghan forced a laugh that sounded convincingly natural, “You don’t have to worry about it.”

Her voice dropped, “I won’t tell dad or mom if that’s what you’re worried about.”

That was the furthest thought on his mind, he knew she wouldn’t say anything. She had her reasons to not like their parents. Jeonghan just shook his head.

She stood up, smoothing her dress, “I just want you to know that I don’t plan on running away. I used to think about it, but now I think I’ll stay. I can help you run the kingdom when he’s gone.” She smiled brightly and Jeonghan smiled in return.

As soon as her back was turned, his smile dropped from his face. She left the room, and Jeonghan got off the floor and went to his bed. He knew she would rule a kingdom much better than he would, but he did feel bad that he would just leave her all alone. She could survive though, she had gone all these years without becoming like her brother. Part of Jeonghan called himself weak for running away, but Joshua’s voice would ring in his head whenever these thoughts popped up. He wasn’t “weak” for running from this situation, it takes a certain kind of strength to leave everything he knew behind to something with such an unknown outcome. At least he would have Joshua with him.

**Junhui**

It wasn’t like he got jealous easily, in fact he was the person who made people jealous. His last relationship ended because his boyfriend at the time thought Junhui was flirting with other men too much. Junhui didn’t even realize it was an issue, but when the tables were turned he realized that it was an issue. Jihoon wasn’t actually, officially, his boyfriend, but for some reason he didn’t like that Jihoon had been spending so much time around Mingyu recently.

He also refused to bring it up because he knew why they were spending so much time together, but Junhui just wanted to spend some amount of time with Jihoon every now and then. But it was always “I’m too tired” or “Now’s not the right time.” All he wanted to do was talk, but that was even too difficult right now.

Although, tonight he was determined to speak his mind. He stood waiting outside of Jihoon’s room, rather impatiently, knowing full well where Jihoon was at the moment. The earth bender had been spending a lot of time in Mingyu’s room at night. Junhui was bothered by the lack of contact, especially keeping in mind that he was going to be headed home again in a few days.

Eventually, some familiar voices approached. He watched as Jihoon and Soonyoung came into view. Junhui didn’t pay attention to what they were saying, he was too busy reciting what he would say to Jihoon. Soonyoung noticed Junhui first, pointing to him. Jihoon looked over and he looked almost nervous. The two split apart, Jihoon walking up to Junhui slowly.

“I want to talk with you,” Junhui said firmly.

“Can it wait? I’ve had a long night.” Jihoon gave a familiar excuse.

“No!” Junhui spoke louder than he anticipated, Soonyoung looked back briefly. “We haven’t talked just one on one in so long.”

Jihoon took a deep breath, “Fine, okay, let’s talk then.” He stepped around Junhui and into his room.

Junhui followed after, shutting the door behind him; he grabbed Jihoon’s hand and pulled him to the bed. He sat cross-legged and Jihoon sat across from him.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Jihoon asked.

“I want to start this by saying that I understand, and I don’t want to say this to upset you. But I think I should say it anyway.”

Jihoon nodded, “Okay, say it then.”

“I get sort of jealous when you spend so much time around Mingyu, you two are always so close to each other and you pay more attention to him than me. Also, you have been staying around him so late that you can’t even put a little effort into talking to me. I just want to know where we are, and if you aren’t interested in me, that’s fine. I just want to know.” Junhui spoke clearly, with only a small hint of nervousness in his tone.

“Mingyu and I are friends, he just needs a lot of support because of everything that’s going on.” Jihoon said.

Junhui nodded, “I know. I feel bad for even feeling jealous, but I do.”

“I get it, I really haven’t been fair to you. I do like being around you, but it’s been hard putting effort into other things right now. I do still care about you, but maybe it’s not the right time for us.”

Junhui smiled, “I understand, we could try this whole thing again after the chaos settles?”

“I’d like that.” Jihoon smiled in return, it was a small smile but still a smile.

Junhui’s face suddenly flushed, “Would it be weird if I said I wanted to kiss you?”

Jihoon shook his head, “Well, probably, but I wouldn’t mind it.”

Junhui leaned in and quickly kissed Jihoon’s lips, sitting back and getting off the bed, “We’ll keep in touch?”

Jihoon nodded, and Junhui left, feeling satisfied despite it not being an incredibly positive interaction. He at least had some hope for their future.

**Chan**

The next day, he was restless. He was nervous about going to the meeting. The biggest problem would be pretending to be as radical as the others. Sure, he did believe that non-benders should be treated equally and fairly in every kingdom, but he did not think to get there they needed to harm benders; especially not in the Earth kingdom. He had to keep telling himself that everyone experiences things differently, so he needed to be a bit more understanding.

By the time it was nighttime, Chan was practically bouncing off the walls because of his nerves. He could barely eat his dinner, and he was talking so fast his family could barely keep up. Once he finished eating, he ran to his room to double check that he still had the official ticket to send a letter to the Fire kingdom. 

His mother knocked on his bedroom door, “There’s someone here for you, he said his name is Seokmin?”

Chan swallowed, shutting the drawer before leaving his room, “Be back later.”

He rushed out the door before his parents could respond. Seokmin was waiting on their landing, and he was by himself. Chan rushed down the stairs.

“What’s the hurry? The meeting doesn’t start for a little while longer.”

“Oh,” Chan struggled to find a reason, “Excited, I guess.”

Seokmin laughed, “Alright, then let’s get going.”

“How do you know where it’s at? I didn’t see anything giving a location.” Chan asked as they started walking.

Seokmin paused, “You just have to know who to ask.”

Chan nodded, walking alongside Seokmin. They turned into an unfamiliar alley, and on the other side was a side of the village Chan never saw. It was mostly residential, and he didn’t know many people who lived outside the immediate marketplace. There were people sitting around on their porches or standing idly in the street talking to one another. Everything looked well put together, and the people they passed waved to them as if they were old friends.

They took another alley and there was a shift in the mood of the area. After leaving that alley, Chan felt cold. There weren't many people out on this street, but a small group of people milling around one building’s entrance. Chan recognized one of the people in the group as Changkyun. They joined the group and Chan began recognizing other people. Most of them were people he had seen buying vegetables from his family’s store, but didn’t know their names. It was clear that they knew him too for the same reason. 

Seokmin and Changkyun excused themselves to go to the bathroom, but encouraged the group to head inside without them. The meeting was going to start soon. Chan walked into the building, behind the rest of the group. He suddenly felt nauseous. Seokmin still wasn’t back by the time the meeting was supposed to start, he took a seat towards the back as a small group of people walked to the front of the room. They were wearing casual clothing and masks with a purple lighting bolt down the middle. They also had hoods covering their eyes, making them look intimidating. Chan wished Seokmin would finally appear and sit next to him.

“Welcome, I’m happy to see so many of you have decided to hear us tonight. My name is DK, and this is I.M, R.M, and V.” The one in the middle spoke, his voice somewhat familiar. He began telling everyone what the group stood for, and how they came to think this. “Non-benders have been wrongly arrested for simply not having the ability to bend, and it’s time to show benders they cannot control us any longer. We deserve the same amount of respect as anyone else.”

There was a mumble of agreement in the crowd. 

Someone in the room stood, “But we already have that here, why should we join you and risk losing everything we have worked hard for?”

More mumbles of agreement, this time they were a little louder.

“I understand your concern, but consider this: they’ve been in power here for so long. You have positions only because of them, and, yes, they can easily take it from you. However, they can do that same thing without being provoked because they have the power to do so. We, with your help, can take that power from them and give it to you.” DK said in response. 

Chan thought it sounded somewhat rehearsed, as if he knew the question was going to come up at some point. He strained his neck to try to see the person’s face who asked, but he couldn’t get a good look at them.

“How do you propose we do that then? Stage some sort of coup?” The same person asked, putting on a good show for someone who had probably been planted in the crowd.

I.M spoke up this time, “In a sense.” Another familiar voice.

DK crossed his arms, “We are planning a statement that will make them helpless, they’ll do anything we ask. We plan to kill some bender hostages.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for uploading late! I got distracted yesterday, but I promise it won't happen again! I only have a few more chapters planned out from here, so that means we're getting close to the end! I hope you're enjoying it so far, thank you so much!!


	10. Ch.10

**Chan**

A ripple of shocked murmurs rose from the crowd. Chan really felt like he was going to throw up this time. The letter hadn’t really prepared him for this part. 

DK raised his hands to quiet the crowd. “I understand you have your reservations about this, but we are not killing civilians. We only plan on killing guards for now, who have done more harm than good to people like us.”

In a normal situation, Chan would have jumped to the guards’ defense, only thinking of his own positive experiences with them. But he remembered the stories Seokmin and Changkyun told, and knew that to some, it would be justified. He did nothing.

“In a few days, we will hold our first public execution, and we need your support.” DK continued to talk about why they should join the Purple lighting, and other ways they could help aside from directly joining.

Chan didn’t want to join, but he told Jisoo he would help. He didn’t want to suddenly let prince Minghao and his friends down. When DK asked for volunteers, Chan immediately stood up. A few others around him looked at him in shock; he tried to not feel embarrassed about the looks. It took a few minutes for everyone planning on volunteering to finally stand. Chan was glad he hadn’t been the only one; even if he was one of seven. He completely forgot to look for Seokmin, Changkyun, or any of the others he had met the previous night.

DK motioned for those standing to come to the front and everyone else was dismissed. Chan looked around the other faces, hoping to see someone he knew but there was no one. He was surprised that Seokmin and his friends weren’t with them. Did they suddenly decide not to join? Had they even been at the meeting at all?

He wanted to stay to the back of this group too, but with so few of them it was hard to. DK looked over the group, nodding as he scanned their faces. Chan could have sworn DK’s eyes lingered on him but it was hard to tell without actually being able to see them. 

“I’m glad to see you all standing here, it takes a certain amount of courage to join us. Know that we appreciate your willingness and you will receive our protection. It may be dangerous to join the cause, and I do warn you that you may be arrested or otherwise harmed, but you have numerous brothers, sisters, and others on your side. Your sacrifice would not be in vain.” DK said, he was speaking slightly softer this time and his voice was now even more familiar to Chan.

As he listened, Chan swallowed thickly. If what the letter said was true, Chan wouldn’t really be in danger from the guards, but there was always the possibility of accidental death. He really wasn’t ready for that, but he stayed firm in his spot even after DK gave them one last chance to leave. No one else moved either. DK stepped off the platform and started shaking all the volunteer’s hands. When he got to Chan, he noticed a slight nod as he introduced himself. Was it possible that he already knew who DK was under the mask?

DK told them of the house they were staying in while in the Earth kingdom, and that they were welcome there anytime. Chan straightened, thinking this could possibly be the place where the Fire kingdom guard could be hidden. He would have to investigate as soon as he could, perhaps even that night if possible. DK dismissed the group after telling them of their next meeting, but Chan stayed after everyone left.

“Excuse me, DK?” He said.

DK seemed to look at him, “What is it?”

“Is there anything I can help with tonight? I met some people last night, and I felt bad for them so I want to do something quickly to try and help them as much as possible.” He didn’t really even know what he was saying until he said it.

DK let out a light laugh, “You mean you don’t recognize us?”

“Huh?” Chan took a step back.

DK took off his hood and mask, revealing himself to be Seokmin. The others around him did the same, and he recognized them all from the bar the night before, even Changkyun was with them.

“What the hell?” Chan was confused, he felt lied to but didn’t say it.

“Sorry, we didn’t think you would join so we couldn’t tell you who we were, but now that we know you’re in, it’s fine.” Seokmin smiled, hoping to seem a little apologetic.

“I get it.” Chan nodded slowly, “Can I ask about the stories you told last night? Were they real or were you just trying to convince me to join?”

“Oh, no! They were real!” Seokmin responded, waving his hands slightly.

“Yeah, the only thing we didn’t tell you was exactly who we were.” Changkyun added.

Chan nodded again and repeated, “I get it.”

Seokmin stepped beside Chan and threw an arm around the younger’s shoulders, “Come on, we’ll show you to our place.”

As he was led to their house, Chan started thinking of what he would say in his first letter. He had to find out if this was the place that the guard was being held first, but he might just tell the princes about this location too, just in case. The house the group was staying in had a certain old look to it; many of the shutters were either gone or on their last screw, some roof tiles were scattered on the ground in front, but it looked like the sides and doors had recently gotten washed. 

“Who’s house is this?” Chan asked, staring up at the top floor.

“Ours?” Seokmin asked with a laugh.

“No, I mean, who did you get it from?”

“Oh, it was abandoned. We only take over those kinds of places.” Seokmin led Chan into the house.

The floor needed to be swept, and the shelves and walls needed to be dusted, but other than that the house looked like a group of boys lived there. There were some pieces of clothes scattered around and dirty dishes on the table, but otherwise clutter free. Seokmin gave him a brief tour of the place, but avoided the upstairs rooms and the basement.

“What are on the other floors?” Chan asked, pointing up the stairs.

“All that’s up there is our rooms, and the basement is unlivable. It really smells horrible down there.” Seokmin pulled a face.

“Really? It’s probably just rotten vegetables.” Chan looked at the door to the basement, wondering if there really was something down there that they were hiding.

Seokmin and Changkyun laughed, and Seokmin opened the door, “You can go check it out, but we don’t really need this one. We’ve found other places with cleaner basements.”

Chan shrugged and walked down the stairs, and the smell was immediately overwhelming. It smelled wet, dusty, stale, and a lot like rotten vegetables and meat. He peeked into the space of the basement and only saw overturned crates and burlap sacks. Chan ran back up the stairs, covering his nose, “It’s worse than I thought.” He kicked the door shut.

Seokmin laughed louder, “See? We didn’t even feel comfortable putting any of those hostages down there, they might have died from some lung infection before we got to them.”

_Humane_ , Chan thought as he breathed the fresh air of the ground floor. “Where do you keep them then?”

“We can show you tomorrow,” Seokmin responded.

Changkyun suddenly cleared his throat, and the two made a few faces at each other.

“Oh, right, could we ask a favor of you?” Seokmin asked, sitting down on a shaky wooden chair.

“Sure, anything.” Chan nodded.

“Well, tomorrow we wanted to do some extra recruiting before the meeting at night. We need someone else to stay with one of the hostages, would you be interested?” Seokmin explained.

Chan swallowed thickly, “You want me to do it?”

Seokmin nodded, “Yeah, we know you’re new, but it won’t be that hard. All you have to do is bring him his food. You’ll mostly just be sitting around, but we just need someone to stay in the house in case some curious eyes come around.”

“What kind of bender is he? What if he attacks me?”

“You don’t have to worry about that, he’s too weak to fight.” Seokmin said, laughing lightly.

“Plus I think he’s too sad,” Changkyun mocked a crying face, “We took him from his little boyfriend.”

They both laughed, and Chan tried to fake a laugh too, “Well, as long as you think I’ll be fine, I’ll do it. When and where?”

“Just come here about mid-morning, one of us will take you there.” Seokmin said.

Chan nodded, “Got it,” he glanced out the window, “I think it’s getting a bit late, my parents might be wondering where I am. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

They waved to him as he left, and Chan took off running as soon as he was out of view of the house. He wanted to send Minghao a letter tonight, just to make sure he knew Chan was working as fast as he could. He didn’t have a lot to report, but a little information was better than none.

His parents were sitting around snapping peas when he got home.

“Have a good night?” His mom asked, looking up as she tossed the peas and their pods in their respective buckets.

“Yeah, went out with new friends. I have to run an errand in a few minutes though, I’ll be back quickly, so you will probably still be up.” Chan answered as he walked to his room.

“An errand? This late? Nothing is open now.” His dad said.

“I just have to drop off a letter,” Chan lied.

His parents nodded, and said nothing more. Chan went into his room, shutting the door behind him, and grabbed a piece of paper and a writing utensil.

_Prince Minghao,_

_This is Lee Chan. I hope Jisoo told you already that I’ve agreed to help. I just got back from a Purple Lighting meeting, and I’ve agreed to join. I found out the identities of the leaders, it’s_

He tore up that first draft. As much as he thought he should, he couldn’t bring himself to reveal their real names. They hadn’t killed anyone yet, and he knew the rough lives they had come from. He really didn’t want to be the reason they all got arrested and thrown in jail for the rest of their lives. So, he started a second version, with no real names, and only the important details.

He finished the second version, read over it three times, then stuck it in an envelope and addressed it to Minghao in the Fire kingdom, instead of to Mingyu. He felt more comfortable sending it to someone he knew. As he was about to leave his room, he remembered the letter ticket he would need. He turned back, grabbed it, then ran off to the mail center. There was always someone there at every hour of every day, since letters were the only way to communicate between and within kingdoms. 

There were two people on duty as Chan walked in, they both looked tired and bored. Nights were the slowest for them. They looked up as he came in, and smiled tired smiles. He handed them the letter, and the older looked at the address and gave him an odd look.

“Do you have a ticket? You can’t just send this, you know.” She said, holding out her other hand.

Chan pulled the ticket from his pocket and handed it to her.

She checked the authenticity of the ticket then looked back at Chan, “How did you get a hold of an Air kingdom ticket?” She asked as she handed it back to him, and handed his letter to the other person on duty.

“Huh?” Chan looked back at the ticket.

“Yeah, it has the Hong family seal on it. You know them?”

Chan almost smacked himself on the forehead, Jisoo must have been the Air kingdom prince. “Sure, I know the prince.”

She nodded, “I heard he’s really handsome, kind of a shame he’s an airbender.”

“He’s not bad,” Chan said, “Is there anything else you need from me?”

She shook her head, “No, we’ll send it right away. The prince should get the letter by breakfast, have a good night.”

**Minghao**

He woke up the next morning with Soonyoung by his side, they hadn’t been able to have these moments since everything went crazy. They both needed some amount of normalcy before things got hectic again. Seungcheol knocked on his bedroom door to wake them up, not coming in as to give them their privacy.

Minghao pulled Soonyoung towards him as they slowly woke up, and kissed Soonyoung’s forehead lightly. Soonyoung barely had his eyes open as he tilted his head up to kiss Minghao’s lips.

“Morning,” Soonyoung said, letting out a big yawn.

“Mhm,” Minghao was still processing waking up, and he stretched his arms straight up.

Soonyoung slowly sat up, looking around the room from half lidded eyes, “Where did I put my change of clothes?”

“On the chair,” Minghao responded, rolling over with his eyes shut, wanting more sleep.

Soonyoung, instead of getting out of the bed, laid himself back down on top of Minghao. The prince smiled and turned slightly to kiss Soonyoung again. There was another knock on the door, and Seungcheol told them to get up again.

“I don’t want to,” Soonyoung said, only loud enough for Minghao to hear.

“Neither do I,” Minghao said, holding Soonyoung close to him.

“He might come in if we don’t,” Soonyoung said, pressing his face into Minghao’s neck.

“Fine.”

The door opened, and the two looked up, expecting to see Seungcheol, but seeing Mingyu instead. All three of them froze.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize-I’ll step out, sorry.” Mingyu stuttered, his face turning red as he looked away and walked out of the room.

Seungcheol poked his head in, “I tried to stop him, sorry. Now, get up and get ready.” He pulled the doors shut.

Soonyoung and Minghao looked at each other, both looking equally surprised, before bursting into laughter. It was a bit embarrassing, but they weren’t doing anything to be really embarrassed about. They were both fully clothed anyway. Soonyoung climbed over Minghao to get out of the bed, kissing the prince’s cheek again as he did. Minghao sat up as Soonyoung crossed the room, watching him get dressed.

“Will no one help the prince get dressed?” Minghao asked as Soonyoung pulled up his pants and was tying them shut. The prince let out a loud sigh.

Soonyoung turned and bowed deeply, “Oh prince Minghao, please allow me to help you dress. I know you are so helpless that you cannot do it yourself, and I am here to help you.”

Minghao laughed, and pointed to the crate full of his clothes, instructing Soonyoung on which pieces to get. Soonyoung brought the clothes to the bed, and pulled Minghao up to his feet. He pulled the prince’s shirt off and folded it carefully. Minghao shivered.

“You’re cold?” Soonyoung asked as he reached around to put the folded nightshirt down and pick up the fresh shirt.

Minghao nodded as his teeth chattered, wrapping his arms around his torso.

Soonyoung pulled Minghao’s arms from his chest and raised them above his head so he could put the shirt on, “Would you rather the shirt or me keep you warm?”

Minghao’s face went red, “Shut up.”

“That’s not an answer,” Soonyoung didn’t pull the shirt onto Minghao’s arms, he only gave him a smirk.

“I don’t know what the right answer is.” Minghao answered, giggling slightly.

Soonyoung nodded slowly, and pulled the shirt down, “For now, I’ll accept that. Maybe tonight I can keep you warm instead of the shirt.”

Minghao covered his face, “Stop it!”

Soonyoung pulled Minghao’s hands from his face to kiss his lips quickly, “Sorry, let’s just take your pants off instead.”

Minghao laughed and slapped Soonyoung’s arm. The pants were changed quickly, and Soonyoung grabbed Minghao’s shoes, tying the laces for him as well. 

“Ready to get breakfast?” Soonyoung asked as he stood up from tying the shoes.

Minghao nodded, “One last kiss before we leave?”

Soonyoung grabbed Minghao’s cheeks and quickly kissed him. They walked out of the room together, and saw Mingyu and Seungcheol still waiting outside the doors.

Mingyu’s face flushed again, “I’m really sorry about before, I didn’t know you were both in there.”

Minghao waved his hand, “Don’t worry about it, you didn’t see anything bad anyway.”

“I was thinking about something after that though, you two are together right? Like, you are boyfriends? I don’t think we ever actually talked about it.” Mingyu spoke quickly, apparently trying to hide his own embarrassment.

“Oh,” Minghao thought about it, realizing that they hadn’t said anything officially, “I mean, yeah, we are. We didn’t really plan on saying anything for a while.”

They started walking to the great hall.

“How long have you two been dating?” Mingyu asked.

“A year or so,” Minghao said.

Mingyu nodded, “You’re good at keeping secrets then.”

When they got to the great hall, Joshua was already sitting at the prince’s table, eating slowly. He looked up as they walked in and waved. Minghao and Mingyu joined him while Soonyoung and Seungcheol went back to their usual table. They sat and started eating, and within a few minutes someone rushed into the great hall.

“Prince Minghao,” They said, bowing and holding out a letter, “A letter arrived for you this morning.”

Minghao brushed his hands together before taking the letter, “Thank you, you can go.”

They bowed again before turning and rushing out. Minghao looked at the front and back of the envelope but it didn’t say who it was from. He carefully pulled the envelope open and picked the letter out.

He read the first line then looked up, “It’s from Chan.”

_Prince Minghao,_

_This is Lee Chan, I hope Jisoo was able to tell you that I would help you as best as I could. I wanted to write this letter despite not having too much information to give you yet. Tonight, I was able to go to a Purple Lighting meeting, and I have joined the group. They didn’t give a lot of specifics at the meeting, but they gave those who joined the location of their main house._

_It’s the biggest house on the street closest to the river, they told me it’s been abandoned for a few years._

_They don’t keep any hostages in that place, but tomorrow, or today by the time you read this, I believe I will know exactly where they are keeping the person you are looking for. They said they took him from his “boyfriend,” I’m assuming that means prince Mingyu. I was asked to keep watch over him while the other people went out to recruit. As soon as I get that location, I’ll send another letter with it and I’ll tell you how he’s doing. Two of them said he’s really weak though, but I haven’t seen him yet._

_Hopefully I’ll have more for you tomorrow._

_Chan_

Mingyu was reading the letter over Minghao’s shoulder. Minghao looked at Mingyu, whose face fell. He didn’t look like he was going to cry, but it wasn’t a promising expression either. After they finished reading, Minghao handed Joshua the letter too. 

“This is good though, isn’t it? You’ll get what you need by tomorrow at the least.” Joshua said after he finished reading, handing the letter back so Minghao could put it in his pocket.

“He’s gotten further than we expected so quickly. I wonder why he was asked to watch Wonwoo after just one meeting.” Minghao said.

“Maybe he knows who the actual leaders are,” Joshua suggested.

Minghao shrugged, “He could, but he didn’t say anything about that in the letter.”

“He might want to protect them,” Joshua shrugged.

“If I ever meet those guys, I’ll kill them, I don’t need to know their real names.” Mingyu said through his teeth.

**Chan**

Seokmin was sitting on the front porch of their main house when he got there that morning. Changkyun walked out of the house with an apple and a cup of something as Chan approached. They all nodded to each other.

“Hope you don’t mind, but Hyungwon is going to take you to the other place. We have to do a couple things around here this morning. He’ll also tell you all the stuff you need to know once you get there.” Seokmin said before taking a long sip of the drink he was given.

Chan nodded, “That’s fine.”

Changkyun turned to call to Hyungwon, and the new person came out of the house moments later. Chan immediately recognized him as the one who asked the questions at the meeting the night before.

“You were the one at the meeting last night?”

Hyungwon laughed slightly, “Yeah, we’ve been doing that a lot here. It’s easier to just have someone say what everyone is thinking.”

Chan nodded, “That makes sense.”

Hyungwon started walking down the street, motioning for Chan to follow. They turned down a path into the woods and across the bridge.

“Watching this guy is really easy now. He used to try to fight whenever we brought him dinner, but now he just looks at you. It’s a little weird at first, but if you don’t look back at him it’s better. You’ll have to give him his lunch and dinner, but he probably won’t eat it. He hardly touches anything we give him. Well, granted it’s usually just rice and the shitty parts of the meat, but still. Ungrateful.”

Chan nodded as he listened, taking in the exact route to the place as they walked.

The place where the guard was being kept was small, it looked like a house that was made for just one married couple. It was large enough to not feel cramped, but small enough that one person would feel good being alone in it. There was someone sitting in the house when they got there.

“Jooheon, I’ve brought your replacement. You can go home and sleep.” Hyungwon said, hanging out by the door as Chan walked in.

“Cool, who’s the kid?” Jooheon said, getting off the chair and stretching.

“I’m Chan,” he stuck his hand out to introduce himself.

Jooheon only smacked his hand against Chan’s as he walked towards the door.

Hyungwon only stepped a foot through the door, “The kitchen is pretty well stocked so help yourself to whatever. The door to the basement is over there, keep it locked if you’re not going down there. Feed him whenever you want. We’ll be back this evening to get you.”

Chan nodded and thanked him. Hyungwon and Jooheon waved quickly and walked back to the village. Chan watched them leaving through the kitchen window. Part of him was worried someone was going to come back to check on him at some point, but he didn’t want to think about that at the moment. He turned and stared at the basement door, his stomach flipping as he thought about going down to check on the guard. What was his name again? Wonwoo? That sounded right.

Without thinking, he was moving across the room, and his hand was suddenly on the door’s lock. He snapped the lock open, throwing the door open. 

Immediately he was hit with a foul odor. It was different from the one in the main house, this was the smell of someone who hadn’t had a bath in a while mixed with a wet basement. Still, he took a few steps down the stairs.

“Wonwoo?” He whispered, hoping to not startle him.

There was a muffled response, almost sounding confused.

Chan took a few more slow steps, his eyes adjusting to the darkness of the room. He looked around and saw a person sitting against one of the walls, hands behind their back, legs crossed, and they were looking up at him. Their face was ghastly thin. Chan rushed down the rest of the stairs to him.

“You’re Wonwoo, right?” Chan asked, and Wonwoo nodded, “My name is Lee Chan. Do you want something to eat? I can make you something, or I can grab you something quick.”

Wonwoo eyed him suspiciously and didn’t answer.

“I’ll be right back, I’m here to help you,” Chan stood up and ran back up the stairs, looking for something quick to bring down. Jooheon had left some rice in a pot, so Chan scooped it into a bowl. There were a few pieces of meat sitting on a plate too, they didn’t look like much but Chan put them in the bowl too. Before going back down the stairs, he grabbed some chopsticks, an apple, and a knife.

Wonwoo hadn’t moved when Chan came back down the stairs. Only his eyes moved as he watched Chan’s every move. Chan sat on the ground in front of him and tried to hand him the bowl. Wonwoo shifted slightly to show his hands were tied up. 

“I don’t know where the keys are, otherwise I would unlock you.” Chan said.

Wonwoo looked confused again, “Why?” his voice was barely a whisper.

“Like I said, I’m here to help, and you need to eat.”

“You might...get into trouble. You should just...leave.”

Chan put the apple and knife on his lap and sighed heavily, grabbing the chopsticks and picking up some of the rice and meat. He held it in front of Wonwoo’s mouth, “Eat.”

Wonwoo didn’t move, Chan urged him again. Wonwoo took a hesitant bite, chewing slowly. Chan picked more and held it out to him again. It took a few bites but it was clear that Wonwoo was beginning to relax slightly; he was also starting to trust that Chan really was there to help, eating faster with every scoop. The bowl was soon empty, so Chan picked up the apple and started cutting it up, handing Wonwoo pieces as he did.

“Do you believe me now?” Chan asked when the apple was just a core.

Wonwoo nodded, licking his lips and resting his head against the wall, “Can I ask you for some water?”

Chan picked up the dishes and went back up the stairs, this time grabbing both a large cup of water and a few pieces of bread. When he got back to Wonwoo, he let him take a few sips at a time, not letting him drink too quickly.

“Why are you here?” Wonwoo asked, some of the water was dripping off his chin.

“Prince Minghao asked me to find out where you were, they’re looking for you.”

“Just people from the Earth kingdom?”

“I think your prince Mingyu is involved too, they mentioned him in the letter.”

Wonwoo closed his eyes, and Chan swore he saw a tear fall down his cheek.

“Wonwoo, let me see your wrists.”

Wonwoo turned, showing his raw wrists. Chan sucked in a breath, “I’ll be right back.”

He went back up the stairs to look for a rag and another bucket for water. He went back down to the basement and went to work cleaning up the scrapes on Wonwoo’s wrists. They were mostly bruised, but it was hard to tell before Chan cleaned them up. He worked carefully around the chains, being gentle as he cleaned up Wonwoo’s wrists. The guard would still flinch at certain touches, but there was little Chan could do to stop it from completely hurting.

“You’ll get out of here soon.” Chan said suddenly.

Wonwoo turned his head, “Sure.”

“You will. They’ll come get you.”

“There were others.”

Chan nodded, resting the rag on the rim of the bucket, “I know, I told prince Minghao about their main house, someone will get the others. It’s just that, you’re top priority to them right now. Can I ask you about them? Why do they want to save you so badly, if that isn’t rude.”

Wonwoo turned to face Chan again, “I’m their friend.”

“How’d you get kidnapped? Why weren’t you with the prince?” Chan asked.

“We had a fight.”

“Over what?”

Wonwoo sighed, “It’s going to sound stupid.”

Chan shrugged, “That’s fine, I’m just curious.”

Wonwoo didn’t speak for a moment, trying to think of what to say, “He kissed me once, and at the time I couldn’t tell him I felt the same way about him. Instead of actually talking, I decided to quit being his guard and went back to work for the city guard. When the Water kingdom left, I was escorting their convoy when we were attacked. That’s how I ended up here.”

Chan nodded, “Damn.”

Wonwoo nodded back, “Yeah, it’s stupid.”

“A little, but who could have predicted this.”

Wonwoo sat back against the wall, “The whole time I’ve been here, I convinced myself that no one was coming for me, and that Mingyu had forgotten about me.”

Chan put a hand on Wonwoo’s leg to comfort him, “They really haven’t, but if they never come, I’ll get you out of here myself.”

Chan spent the rest of the day in the basement talking to Wonwoo. Chan would actually feed him too, hoping he could get the guard’s strength back up before his rescue. He was already seeming much more lively, he was talking more and some color was coming back to his cheeks. Towards the end of the day, he heard a few voices approaching the house. 

“I have to get back up there, I’m glad we could talk.” Chan said, getting up and grabbing the dishes.

“Leave the bowl down here.” Wonwoo said quickly.

Chan threw one of the bowls down and ran back up the stairs, shutting and locking the door before the visitors walked into the house. He rushed into the kitchen to start washing the bowl he still had and the chopsticks.

“Hey, Chan, good to see you!” Seokmin said as he walked in.

Chan turned and smiled, “Hey!”

Changkyun followed after Seokmin, they both sat at the table.

“How was your day?” Changkyun asked,

“Boring, and yours?”

“Got a few more recruits, and gave some people some new assignments. Did you like being out here alone?” Seokmin answered.

Chan nodded, “It wasn’t bad. It’s a nice break from the store, I managed to catch up on some sleep.” He was trying to sound as casual as possible, hoping to be convincing.

“Would you wanna get put on watch duty here then? Not everyday since we know you have to work at the store some days.” Seokmin offered, propping his feet up onto the table.

“Oh, sure. I’d have to check with my parents about what days I’d be free first, but that’d be fine.” Chan said, almost breathless.

“Great, let us know by tomorrow. Otherwise, we could use the help with weapon building.” Changkyun said.

**Vernon**

He was helping Seungkwan set up some more parts of his room when his father knocked on the door.

“Vernon, I need you to come into the office. We have a few more questions about the people who attacked you, there have been some developments.” His father said.

Vernon nodded, before leaving he kissed Seungkwan’s cheek. He followed his father back to the castle in silence. In the office, there were two Earth kingdom guards waiting for them.

“We think we’ve found the person who attacked you.” One said after a brief introduction.

“Where?” Vernon asked.

“He was spotted in the Earth kingdom last night, leaving a pub. Unfortunately, the guards who saw him did not recognize him in time to be arrested.”

“What do you need from me?” Vernon asked.

“When he is finally arrested, you will be asked to come to the Earth kingdom to confirm that it was the man who attacked you before we transfer him here for punishment.”

Vernon nodded, “Of course, that would be fine with me.”

They nodded, “Good, we wanted to make sure you knew of it before the time comes. It may be within a few days as many guards are looking for him. Before that, we just wanted to reconfirm the description of who you saw. You described one as tall and thin, with wide eyes and a mouth that resembled a cat?”

Vernon nodded, “His top lip sort of pointed down,” clarifying his description and even motioning it with his hands to make it sound less confusing.

The guards nodded, looking at a paper they brought, the first looked up, “Okay, then we believe we have the right person. Thank you.”

After that, Vernon was dismissed. Since it was getting late, he went back home. Seungkwan was still arranging things in his room when he got back.

“What was that all about?” Seungkwan asked as Vernon hugged him.

“They think they found the guy who attacked me, and were letting me know I would have to go to the Earth kingdom to confirm it’s him.” Vernon said, flopping onto Seungkwan’s bed.

“They brought you in for that? Why couldn’t your dad have just told you that here?”

Vernon shrugged, “No idea, I guess they just wanted me to tell them what they already knew.”

“Do you think that’s going to mess the plan up?” Seungkwan asked as he put more clothes into a drawer.

“It might be good to do it that day, if one of them gets arrested then they’ll be distracted.”

“I don’t know, what if it isn’t the guy?”

Vernon thought for a moment, “Yeah, I don’t know either. I’ll bring it up tomorrow though, see what they think.”

Seungkwan walked over to Vernon and sat on his lap, straddling his hips, “Whatever they decide, I want to come with you.”

“You might be needed here though,” Vernon ran a hand through Seungkwan’s hair.

“Oh, so you don’t want me to go with you?” Seungkwan pretended to sound hurt.

“That’s not what I meant, of course I want you to come with me. But what if you can’t?”

“Well,” Seungkwan leaned in and pushed Vernon back onto the bed, laying on his chest, “I’ll come anyway.”

Vernon laughed, “Okay, good. I don’t want to go alone.”

“I’ve never seen the Earth kingdom before.”

“I’ve been there a few times, it’s pretty nice. There’s more trees.” Vernon said.

Seungkwan nodded, “Good.” He yawned.

“Are you tired?” Vernon asked, lifting his head slightly.

Seungkwan nodded again.

“Should I leave you to sleep then?” 

Seungkwan lifted his head and glared, “No, I want you to stay here.”

“But my parents-”

“It’s just sleeping, I don’t think they’ll care that much.”

“Let me at least go change and shut my door so they think I’m in there.”

Seungkwan rolled off Vernon to let him get up. He went back to his room quickly and dressed for bed. As he left his room, he made eye contact with his sister as she was shutting her door. She gave him a confused look. Vernon put a finger to his lips and mouthed “don’t tell mom or dad.” She shrugged and asked what he was talking about.

He walked backwards to Seungkwan’s room, and opened the door while telling her to keep quiet. She suddenly nodded in understanding. They both went into the rooms without a word.

“Sofia saw me walking in here.” Vernon said.

“She won’t say anything,” Seungkwan said, he was crawling under his cover as he spoke.

Vernon climbed in next to him, throwing the blanket over him, “Yeah, doubt it.”

Seungkwan curled up next to Vernon and put his head on Vernon’s chest.

**Mingyu**

He knew he was dreaming. He had to be because Wonwoo was in front of him. The dream was painful, Wonwoo was laying on the ground in an overgrown forest. He wasn’t dead, just hurt; whenever Mingyu got close to him, Wonwoo would push him away.

“Please, Wonwoo, you have to get up! They’re coming back, we have to go!” Mingyu pleaded, leaning over again.

Wonwoo looked up at him in anger and sadness, it was just like the last time he had seen the guard’s face, “Leave me alone!”

Mingyu reached out, but Wonwoo slapped his hand away. Voices approached and the next thing he knew, Mingyu was running through an infinite forest. It just kept going and it all looked the same, but Wonwoo’s scared voice was echoing through the trees. Mingyu was looking for him while running from someone. He wasn’t moving that fast and he felt the people approaching him.

Mingyu suddenly woke up with a start, his skin clammy. He sat up in his bed, and flicked a flame to the candle on his bedside table. The dim light lit up the room enough for him to find his shoes. He wanted to be around someone, he couldn’t stand being alone after that dream. Before he left his room, he blew out the candle.

At first, he didn’t know where to go. In the past if he had a bad dream, he would just ring for Wonwoo, but that was obviously not an option. Mingyu wondered if Wonwoo was thinking about him. He walked to Jihoon’s room, passing a few guards as he walked, one followed him to Jihoon’s room and would stand outside until Mingyu left.

He knocked on Jihoon’s door and waited. It felt like hours before Jihoon opened the door, he was still rubbing his eyes.

“Mingyu?” He asked, scratching his head.

“Can I come in? I had a bad dream and can’t sleep anymore.”

Jihoon nodded and stepped aside to let Mingyu in. Mingyu walked to Jihoon’s bed and laid down, and Jihoon came back over and laid beside him. There was space between them, but Mingyu felt close enough, and comfortable enough, with the proximity that he eventually drifted off. His sleep was uneasy, but he managed to not have any more bad dreams that night.

He woke up naturally just before the sun came up, and found Jihoon’s arm draped over his stomach. The older was laying on his own stomach, and it hardly looked comfortable. Carefully, Mingyu got out of the bed and left the room to go back to his own.

After getting dressed, he walked to breakfast alone. There were few people in the great hall when he got there, his dad was one of them. Mingyu looked at his father, and was immediately motioned to come over.

“Where did you go last night? A guard told me you were seen walking around the castle.” His father asked, his voice low.

“I went to Jihoon’s room, I couldn’t sleep.”

His father nodded, “Okay, are you doing alright? I know things have been hard for you, and we haven’t had time to talk because I’ve been so busy with everything.”

“I’m okay, don’t worry.”

“If you need to talk about things, please don’t hesitate to come to me. I don’t want you to completely shut yourself off.”

“Thanks, but I’ve been talking to my friends about a lot of it.” Mingyu gave a small smile.

His father nodded slowly, “Good, you can eat now.”  
Mingyu nodded and walked to his table. He was only alone for a few minutes before Joshua joined him.

“How are you this morning?” Joshua asked as he sat.

“Tired, and you?” Mingyu responded.

“Not bad.”

Mingyu sat silently for a moment, “Do you miss Jeonghan?”

Joshua glanced up at him, “Of course, why?”

“What does it feel like?”

“What do you mean?”

Mingyu sighed, “Like, when you think about him, do you get this empty feeling in your chest?”

Joshua took in a deep breath as he thought, “Yes and no. I don’t really feel empty because I know when I’ll see him next, but sometimes it does hurt.”

Mingyu nodded.

Joshua reached across the table and placed a hand on Mingyu’s arm, “If that’s how you feel when you think about Wonwoo, it’s normal. Like I said, with Jeonghan I know I’ll see him again soon, but you don’t have that reassurance. You don’t have to compare your suffering to someone else’s just because they feel it differently.”

Mingyu nodded again, “Thanks.”

Joshua nodded in response, and they fell back into a comfortable silence. Minghao rushed into the great hall minutes later, with Seungcheol, Soonyoung, and Jihoon running behind him. The commotion turned many heads. Minghao slid into the seat next to Mingyu, shoving a letter in his face.

“What’s this?” Mingyu asked through a mouth full of food.

“Chan told us where Wonwoo is.” Minghao whispered urgently.

Mingyu choked slightly, taking the letter with shaking hands. He opened it slowly, and had to blink away the tears already forming.

_Prince Minghao,_

_I told you yesterday that I was going to be watching Wonwoo today, and I now know where he is being held. On the old path into the forest by the river, there are many houses. He is being kept in the 3rd house, the small, brown one. He’s locked and chained up in the basement._

_I talked to him a lot today, and I gave him some actual food and water. He’s really weak right now, but I think he could travel at any point. When you come, please find me. I agreed to keep watch over him a few days a week, maybe I could help with your escape plan. I’ll keep feeding him and helping him as much as I can without getting caught._

_He mentioned prince Mingyu a lot, I hope he comes to get him too. He said he had convinced himself you all forgot about him._

_Chan_

Mingyu looked up at Minghao when he finished reading, trying to hold the tears in. He passed the note to Joshua. Mingyu stood up slowly and started to leave the great hall, the other princes and their friends following. They were getting closer to getting Wonwoo back, and he now knew Wonwoo was thinking about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm almost sad this story will be wrapping up soon, I've been having fun with it! What kinds of things do you wanna see in these final chapters? I'm curious to know where you all think it's going to end up :)


	11. Ch.11

**Seungcheol**

“Okay, take it easy, we can’t go right  _ now. _ ” Seungcheol grabbed Mingyu’s shoulders to stop him from pacing his room.

“We know where he is! We can go right now, we’re all here!” Mingyu tried to shake Seungcheol off, but the guard was stronger.

“First of all, we’re missing Vernon and Seungkwan. We’ll probably need all the help we can get.” Seungcheol said firmly.

“They are on their way.” Minghao spoke up.

Seungcheol shot him a look, “You’re not helping. We can’t go right now.”

“Why not?” Mingyu pouted.

“For starters, it’s the middle of the morning. We would be stopped as soon as we got to the gate. Second, we need to find out  _ when  _ Chan is going to be watching Wonwoo. I’m trying to minimize the amount of fighting we have to do to get him out.” Seungcheol pushed Mingyu into a chair.

Vernon and Seungkwan walked into the room, both looking confused. Joshua was still holding the letter, he gave it to Vernon. The two read it together.

“When are we leaving?” Vernon asked.

“I want to leave now.” Mingyu said.

Vernon shook his head, “Probably not good.”

Seungcheol clapped, “Thank you, finally someone who gets it.”

“We still haven’t figured out what the hell we’re going to do when they find  _ all  _ of us missing. Also, if we go now, are we bringing Joshua with us or is he going to stay and be questioned?” Vernon added.

Joshua shook his head, “You could wait until the day we leave, sneak out at night and go get him.”

Seungcheol shrugged, “Cutting it a little close to the deadline, but it would probably be our best option.”

Mingyu suddenly slammed his hands against the arms of the chair, “What if he doesn’t make it that long? They’re starving him!”

“Chan said he’ll take care of him, he’s going to be okay.” Minghao jumped in, speaking softly to avoid upsetting the other further.

Jihoon cleared his throat, “I think our only option is the day the Air kingdom leaves. The guards are going to be distracted by keeping them safe that they won’t notice us leaving until the morning. By then, we’ll be in the Earth kingdom. It’ll take time for the search to reach there. Hopefully, we’ll have made it back here before then, with Wonwoo.”

Seungcheol watched as Mingyu relaxed as Jihoon spoke, the prince thought about it. Mingyu agreed to wait.

“How are we going to get out of the castle?” Seungkwan asked.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got that covered.” Minghao answered, chuckling slightly.

“And when we get to the Earth kingdom, where will we go? I’m assuming we aren’t going to do this rescue mission at night?” Seungkwan asked.

“Chan still lives with his family, right?” Vernon asked now.

Seungcheol waved his hand, “Don’t worry, I know a place.”

“Your parents?” Jihoon asked with a laugh.

“No, they’d ask too many questions. I was thinking of-”

“Boyfriend.” Soonyoung, Jihoon, and Minghao all finished his statement for him.

Seungkwan’s eyes lit up, “We’re going to meet your boyfriend?”

Seungcheol shook his head, “Unfortunately not, he’s going to the Water kingdom for something next week. The house will be empty.”

Seungkwan looked almost disappointed, but the other earth benders looked a bit relieved. 

“The plan is, from what I’m gathering, we leave here at night. Rest until Chan’s shift in the morning, go there, get Wonwoo, and come back here immediately.” Soonyoung said.

The group nodded.

“We made all these plans just for it to be easy.” Soonyoung commented.

“I doubt it’s going to be that easy.” Seungcheol said, sighing heavily. “We have to let Chan know of our plan, we’ll need him for this.”

Minghao stood and went to Mingyu’s desk, setting a piece of paper down and grabbing something to write with; he turned and looked back at the group. “What should we say?”

“The most important thing is that you’re going to be there in exactly 6 days.” Joshua said.

Minghao nodded and started writing. Seungcheol walked over to look over the prince’s shoulder as he was writing. It wasn’t a long letter, but it had a lot of details. Minghao signed off the letter, folded the paper once the ink dried, and stuck it into an envelope. He carefully addressed it to Chan, handing it to Mingyu to seal it closed. The whole process was done without words, and Seungcheol could almost feel the nervous energy coming from everyone. Even if the rest of them weren’t too terribly nervous, Seungcheol was.

There was so much that could go wrong, and he couldn’t prepare for all of it. He wanted to remain as optimistic as possible, he kept telling himself that they would be able to find Wonwoo and bring him home. Everything else was up in the air.

As they waited for the wax to dry, Vernon spoke up. “I’ll have to go to the Earth kingdom soon, some guards said they may have found one of the people who attacked me that day.” 

“They obviously didn’t say when,” Seungcheol replied.

Vernon shook his head, “All they said was that it would be soon.”

Seungcheol sucked in a deep breath, “Let’s hope it happens within the next 5 days. I think it’d be best if we had as many of us as possible.”

“Yeah,” Vernon said, “But if I’m still there the night the plan starts, I’ll just meet you in the village.”

“And are you going with him?” Jihoon asked, nodding to Seungkwan.

The water bender shrugged, “If I can.”

“Fine, let us know when that happens. Vernon’s plan on meeting us in the village is risky, but I think that would be our only option.” Jihoon nodded as he spoke.

Soonyoung suddenly let out a laugh, but stopped once he saw everyone look at him.

“What’s funny?” Jihoon asked, sounding tense.

“Technically I shouldn’t know, so let’s pretend I didn’t laugh.” Soonyoung panicked, laughing again to break the tension.

Minghao’s eyes widened, he glanced over at Joshua before leaning over to whisper something to Soonyoung. Joshua’s eyebrows arched in confusion after the other prince spared him a look. Within the same moment, Joshua shut his eyes and pulled in his lips.

“You said something to him, didn’t you?” Joshua said with a heavy voice.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that I tell him everything, and he’s usually good at keeping secrets.” Minghao apologized quickly.

Seungkwan stepped up, “Don’t get mad at him, I told Vernon too!”

Joshua rubbed the bridge of his nose, “You guys…”

Seungkwan and Minghao both launched into two different but similar explanations of why they said what they did at the same time, and Joshua’s face suddenly looked like he had aged 100 years as they spoke. Vernon and Soonyoung, thankfully, stayed silent, but gave each other worried looks. Seungcheol looked at Jihoon hoping he knew what was going on, but the blank expression on his face told the guard he was just as clueless.

“Okay!” Joshua raised his voice to quiet the two down, “Fine, so you told them! Did you tell anyone else?”

They both shook their heads, and Joshua nodded.

“What is going on?” Seungcheol asked.

Joshua looked over at Seungcheol, a smile had suddenly appeared on his face, “Nothing.”

Jihoon cleared his throat, “Is it something that might affect any of our plans?”

Joshua thought for a moment, his expressions changed rapidly as he did. “Jeonghan and I are going to be running away the same day as your plan is going to be happening.”

Jihoon and Seungcheol nodded slowly. Seungcheol’s brain started to run through so many possible ways that could affect things. All four of the princes were going to go missing on the same night, but maybe their disappearances wouldn’t be connected. It was possible that the Air and Water kingdoms would only be looking for their respectives princes, and the Earth and Fire their own. 

“Obviously, that has its own risks, but I’m sure you’ve thought about all that before and don’t need me lecturing you about them.” Seungcheol said.

Joshua smiled, “Don’t worry, we’ve got all that covered.”

**Vernon**

Two days later, he was called back into his father’s office. He needed to prepare to leave for the Earth kingdom within the hour. He would be traveling alone.

“Do you think it would be a problem if Seungkwan came along?” Vernon asked before his father could move the conversation on.

“Fine, as long as he isn’t needed in the infirmary today. Just be at the gates on time.” His father responded simply, he hadn’t even paused. It seemed like he expected Vernon to ask it.

“Alright, see you later then.” He turned to leave the room.

“Vernon,” his father stopped him.

“Hm?” He turned.

“You and Seungkwan,” His father looked up from his desk.

Vernon gulped.

“If you two are in a relationship, you could have said something, you know. Your mother, well you know how she can be, she keeps pestering me to ask you about it.”

Vernon smiled thinking about how his mom probably asked his dad about it, “Yeah, dad, you can tell mom that he and I are in a relationship now.”

His dad nodded, “He’s a good guy, suits you well.”

“Thanks.”

His dad cleared his throat now, “Okay, well, good we’ve got that covered. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Vernon nodded and said a quick goodbye as he left. He stopped by the infirmary first, asking if Seungkwan was there. The only person in the room said that he had just left, but she wasn’t sure where he had gone. Vernon thanked her and headed to his house next. Neither his sister or his mom were home when he got there, so he went up to Seungkwan’s room to check. 

He wasn’t in his room either.

Vernon scratched his head, wondering where he could have gone. There was always the garden. As he was about to leave the house, a set of familiar laughter was approaching the door. He opened it as his mom, sister, and Seungkwan were walking up. Apparently, his mom had recruited the water bender to help get groceries.

“Ah, speak of the devil! Vernon, can you grab this bag for me? I think it’s going to break.” His mom smiled, as she shook the bag in her already full hand.

Without saying anything, Vernon took the bag and held the door open for the three to come into the house. Seungkwan smiled as he passed Vernon.

“I was looking for you,” Vernon said, following behind Seungkwan towards the kitchen.

“Oh yeah?” Seungkwan said, his back was to the other but Vernon could hear the smile on his face.

“Yeah, I have to go to the Earth kingdom soon. Do you still want to come along?” Vernon asked, putting the bag onto the table.

Seungkwan, now empty handed, spun around, “How soon? Do I need to bring anything?”

“Like within the hour. You’ll probably only need a change of clothes and something to sleep in, you can put them in my bag.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Seungkwan rushed off.

Vernon watched him leave, a small smile on his face. His sister snickered to herself.

“What?” He snapped his head towards her, his face falling.

She didn’t say anything but make kissing noises and laugh more. Their mom reached over and lightly hit his sister’s arm. It only made her laugh harder as she skittered out of the room.

“Don’t mind her,” His mom said with a sigh, “So, you’ll be back tomorrow morning, right?”

Vernon nodded, “Yeah, maybe late tonight if I decide to come back early.”

His mom shook her head, “You might as well stay overnight, besides, we aren’t paying for it!” 

She laughed and Vernon let out light laughter as well. Seungkwan came back down the stairs, the bag slung over his shoulder.

“Are you ready?” He asked.

Vernon nodded, but his mom let out a light “tsk” and hurriedly rushed around the table to give Vernon another, smaller bag.

“Snacks, for the road.” She smiled.

Vernon thanked her, and the two headed out to the gates.

“So we’re staying overnight there?” Seungkwan asked, taking Vernon’s free hand.

“Yeah, might as well.”

“Do you think we can walk around the Earth kingdom village then?”

Vernon shrugged, “I doubt it, with the Purple Lighting being there and all.”

“But if no one knows who we are there, how dangerous could it be?” Seungkwan’s grip on Vernon’s hand tightened.

Vernon laughed, “Okay, we’ll try.”

“Good!” Seungkwan shouted.

They reached the gates, and the guards assigned with escorting greeted them. Vernon was surprised they would be taking a covered carriage instead of something open like he was used to, but apparently that was for his safety. Seungkwan, on the other hand, seemed perfectly comfortable climbing into the carriage and traveling that way.

It would be only a couple hours for them to reach the Earth kingdom, but Vernon decided he would take that time to rest. He wasn’t sure when he had fallen asleep, but at some point was woken up by Seungkwan practically climbing over him to look out the other window.

“What’s going on?” Vernon blinked in sleepy confusion.

“You can see the village out of this window!” Seungkwan said excitedly, tapping the glass lightly.

Vernon, feeling more conscious now, noticed that Seungkwan was leaning over his lap, sitting on his own hips on the opposite side to the window. Vernon grabbed the other’s hips, easily lifting Seungkwan onto his lap before pushing him onto the side with the window he was most interested in. The water bender shifted closer to the window, practically pressing his face against it. 

Vernon leaned against the other side of the carriage, eyes staying on the back of Seungkwan, and propping his feet up onto the bench. The closer they got, Seungkwan grew more excited. He turned to Vernon, “Don’t you want to see too?”

“I’ve seen it before, just keep looking.”

The carriage turned onto the main road into the village, and Vernon’s stomach suddenly flipped. He hadn’t given himself time to be nervous before now. There wasn’t much to be nervous about, all he had to do was say whether or not the person they caught was one of the men who attacked him. Still, he was nervous. Seungkwan turned again, his smile dropping as he looked at Vernon’s face. He moved across the bench, leaning against Vernon’s legs.

“Are you okay?”

Vernon took in a nervous breath, “Yeah, just nervous.”

“Well,” Seungkwan reached over and grabbed Vernon’s hand, “I’m here with you, so nothing bad is going to happen to you.”

Vernon sat forward and kissed Seungkwan quickly, taking the other slightly off guard. The carriage slowed to a stop, they stayed close until they heard someone approaching the door. Seungkwan sat back first, a small smile still on his face. The door opened, and an Earth kingdom guard peered inside.

“Which one of you is Vernon?” They asked, looking between the two of them.

“That’s me.” Vernon put his feet onto the floor, and left the carriage. Seungkwan climbed out after, and they were led into a building.

**Seokmin**

After the disaster of breaking Jooheon out of jail, Seokmin knew, eventually, either Hyungwon or Jooheon would be discovered by guards. He had hoped that keeping them out of the public eye in the Earth kingdom would have bought them extra time. Unfortunately, the previous night, Hyungwon was spotted by guards and taken to jail.

“What are we going to do this time? It won’t be as easy to just break someone out of jail, he’s going to be heavily guarded.” Changkyun was pacing.

“We can figure something out, calm down.” Seokmin said, he didn’t even look up as he spoke.

Changkyun groaned loudly and sat down on the couch. It creaked with the additional weight, and Seokmin braced for it to suddenly break and start another issue. It managed to stay together.

Changkyun glanced back at Jooheon for a second, “You should have just killed that kid when you got the chance. We could have avoided this whole issue.”

“Don’t blame this on me, Hyungwon said we shouldn’t, so it’s his own fault he got arrested.” Jooheon said, his voice harsh.

“And you’re next. You know that right?” Changkyun said, barely turning in his seat this time.

“Whatever.” Jooheon didn’t seem too upset about possibly being arrested again. His tone made Seokmin’s anger boil inside him, but he tried to stay calm. Getting angry wasn’t going to help anything, they needed to have a clear head on how to get Hyungwon out of this mess.

“We’ve all seen the posters.At least we know that, at some point, he’s going to be taken back to the Fire kingdom.” Seokmin said.

“But when?” Changkyun was still annoyed.

Seokmin shrugged, “Someone will have to keep watch, and let us know when the prisoner transfer happens.”

“I can take first watch today,” Chan suddenly spoke up from the corner, “I’m done with work today, so I can keep watch for a few hours.

Seokmin looked over and nodded in response, “Fine, but as soon as you see the transfer cart leave, come get us. We’ll stay here.”

Chan agreed, and excused himself. Seokmin noticed Changkyun watched the other leave.

“There’s something about him that I don’t trust.” Changkyun said as soon as the front door shut.

Seokmin stood up and rolled his eyes, “You don’t trust anyone.”

Changkyun scoffed, “Hurts less that way. But you’re telling me that there isn’t something at least a little suspicious about him.”

“What do you mean?” Seokmin asked, leaning against the table.

“Like he’s almost  _ too  _ eager to help out with everything all the time. He joined and then immediately wanted to do something, but took the opportunity to watch that guard instead of actually doing things with us.” Changkyun explained.

Seokmin rolled his eyes again, “You’re the one who suggested it in the first place.”

Changkyun shrugged and got off the couch, turning to face Seokmin, “Fine, but I’m allowed to regret my decisions.”

**Chan**

He sat on a bench across from the guard’s station, hoping he wasn’t looking too suspicious. He walked around the area a few times, but always kept the station in his line of sight. At some point, there would have to be some type of movement to prepare to transfer Hyungwon.

He had been waiting for about an hour before two boys around his age were being escorted out of the station by guards. The small group stopped to talk for a moment, and Chan watched them. It was the most interesting thing he had seen for a while. The guards walked back into the station, and the two boys walked towards Chan. At first he thought they were walking directly towards him, but the closer they got the more he realized they were just walking in his general direction. He looked away from them, until he heard what they were saying.

“Where did you go with Mingyu and Minghao when you were kids?” The one with the round face asked, his voice wasn’t too loud but the street was quiet enough that Chan heard his every word.

Chan snapped his head towards the two, trying to make eye contact with the one who had talked first. He didn’t know if they were involved in the plan, but the other was obviously connected to the Fire kingdom’s prince. The other one noticed Chan looking at them, and nudged the first. They turned away from him.

Chan panicked, he was worried that he scared them off. All he wanted to do was talk to them, “Wait!”

They glanced back over their shoulder, Chan tried to wave them over but they didn’t move. Chan walked over, the taller of the two stepped in front of the other. It was clear they were worried Chan was going to attack them. He held his hands up and tried to smile.

“Sorry, I heard you mention the princes.” Chan said awkwardly.

The taller gave him a suspicious look.

“Well, I know prince Minghao, he used to visit my family’s shop all the time.” Chan slowly put his hands by his side.

A wave of understanding passed over both of their faces, the shorter stepped around the other, a huge grin on his face, “So you’re-”

“Lee Chan!” Chan finished and answered the question.

The two came closer to him, seemingly relieved at the revelation.

“I’m Seungkwan, this is Vernon. So you’re the one helping us with the plan, huh?” The shorter of the two said.

Chan nodded, reaching out to shake both of their hands.

“What are you doing out here?” Vernon asked, gesturing to the mostly empty street.

“I probably shouldn’t say it, but I’m supposed to watch for the transfer of a prisoner.”

“Is it Chae Hyungwon?” Vernon asked, his voice lower this time.

Chan furrowed his brow, “Yeah, how did you know?”

Vernon let out a light laugh, “Because I came here to send him to jail.”

Chan sucked in a breath, “And now I’m here to make sure he goes free.”

Vernon laughed, easing the tension, “Well, that’s how it goes, I guess. It would have happened even if you hadn’t met us.”

“What? Are we’re just going to let them free him?” Seungkwan suddenly spoke up, sounding slightly annoyed..

“If we don’t, Chan could get into some deep shit. They might suspect him, so yes, we are going to let it happen. Besides, they aren’t transferring him until after we leave. It won’t affect us.” Vernon said, shrugged his shoulders as he put his hands into his pockets.

Seungkwan grumbled under his breath, but didn’t argue.

“Are you leaving tonight?” Chan asked.

“No,” Vernon answered, “Tomorrow morning.”

“Then maybe once someone comes to replace me here, I can come find you two and we could talk!” Chan offered.

The two agreed, “We’ll go wander around the town square, and you can find us there.”

Chan nodded, saying a quick goodbye to the two as they walked off. The sky was dark before someone came to replace him. He said nothing about finding out when Hyungwon would be transferred, it would be too hard to explain how he found it out.

He walked to the town square, knowing it would be hard to find the two in the crowded area. Still, he pushed through the crowd, looking for their familiar faces. Soon, he saw Vernon standing outside one of the few open shops. They waved to each other, but before Chan could walk over to him, someone grabbed his arm.

“Where are you off to?” They asked.

“Seokmin!” Chan turned, hoping his smile didn’t look too uneasy, “I’m just going to meet with some friends.”

Seokmin put his arm around Chan’s shoulders, “Mind if I join?”

Chan swallowed, not sure what to say. He didn’t want to say no and have to deal with more questions, but saying yes was risky.

“It won’t be too long, I just need to get away from Changkyun for an hour. After that, I’ll leave you alone.”

Chan wanted to argue with that, an hour to Seokmin usually turned into a few hours. Still, he agreed, hoping that no one would bring up anything that would cause some kind of fight. He led Seokmin over to the other two.

“Hey, sorry, this is my friend Seokmin. He’s one of the guys I was telling you about earlier, the nonbender from the Water kingdom.” He hoped that would be enough of a hint to the others that they shouldn’t mention bending.

Seokmin squinted while looking at Seungkwan, “You look familiar, have we met?”

Seungkwan shook his head, “I don’t think so.”

“Huh, what’s your name, then?”

“Seungkwan.”

“The name’s familiar too, are you from the Water kingdom too?”

Seungkwan nodded, and as he did, Vernon put his arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer.

Seokmin laughed lightly, “Maybe I’ve met one of your relatives, you really look like someone I recognize.”

“I get that a lot.” Seungkwan smiled. He didn’t sound nervous, but his quick glance to Chan said otherwise.

Chan wanted to make some excuse about how they couldn’t actually go anywhere, but as he was simply formulating the idea a familiar voice called Seokmin’s name. Seokmin sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping.

“Dammit,” he rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Changkyun found me.”

“You didn’t tell him you were leaving, did you?” Chan asked, turning to see Changkyun walking over angrily.

“No, I just left and hoped he wouldn’t notice.”

“Well he did, and he doesn’t look happy about it.” Chan waved at Changkyun.

Seokmin turned finally, “I’ll see you guys around then, I should go before he gets worse.”

They said a quick goodbye, and Chan let out a breath of relief. Vernon cleared his throat. “Was he one of them?”

Chan nodded, “Yeah, he’s the leader.” As soon as the words left his mouth, his eyes widened, “I didn’t want to tell you his name, just forget I said it.”

“Why not?” Seungkwan asked this time.

“I don’t think he’s a bad person.”

Both Vernon and Seungkwan let out a confused noise.

“I know he’s said he wants to kill benders, but I don’t think  _ he  _ would. The other guy, Changkyun, would, but Seokmin doesn’t seem like he would do it even if he was being forced to.” Chan explained, “And, the other night after he got drunk, he said he even feels bad for Wonwoo. Of course, he only said it to me. He doesn’t want the others to think he’s weak.”

“Then why would they make him the leader?” Vernon asked.

Chan shrugged, “He’s the loudest.”

Vernon let out a light laugh, “If he does kill anyone, I won’t hesitate to tell the authorities his name.”

“You won’t have to, because if he does, I’ll tell them first.” Chan said.

**Joshua**

They played it all cool for the remaining days until each of their plans were to happen. Vernon and Seungkwan’s trip to the Earth kingdom brought nothing new to the table that would deter any of the plans. It only gave them more confirmation about the plan to free Wonwoo, Chan was going to be sure to have a shift that day. Even the attack on a prisoner transfer carriage didn’t change anything. It was an insignificant event to all of them, and was almost expected.

Joshua felt more and more nervous the closer it came to his own great rescue. He was hoping that Jeonghan wouldn’t suddenly get cold feet and not want to leave, but he had to remind himself that it was more likely that Joshua himself would get cold feet.

Both his parents were good about pretending like nothing was going to happen in the public eye, but whenever they spoke with their son privately, it was obvious they were feeling sad. They were spending their last few days with their son; possibly forever. 

When the day came for the Air kingdom to return home, his parents were a mess. Even just seeing their son almost brought them to tears. Joshua had to keep reminding them that everything was going to be okay, but that only brought them peace for a few minutes.

In the middle of the afternoon, the convoy was fully packed and ready to go. Joshua went to find Junhui before they left. He still hadn’t told him anything. Junhui was waiting by his family’s carriage when Joshua found him.

They hugged; it lasted longer than usual too.

“Is something wrong?” Junhui asked as they pulled apart from each other.

“I haven’t told you, but I’m leaving today.” Joshua said softly.

Junhui nodded and laughed awkwardly, “Of course, we all are.”

“No, I mean I’m  _ leaving. _ I’m breaking away from the group around the Water kingdom, and I’m running away with Jeonghan.” Joshua said quickly.

Junhui nodded, “Oh, well, good. Where are you going?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

Junhui nodded again, this time more confused, “Okay, when will you come back?”

“I can’t tell you that either.”

It took Junhui a moment before he spoke again, “So does this mean we won’t see each other for a while?”

Joshua nodded, he could feel the tears starting to form. Junhui hugged Joshua again.

“It’s not forever,” Junhui said softly.

Joshua’s father called him back, it was time to leave.

“I’ll miss you.” Joshua said before walking away.

He got into the carriage, sitting opposite from his parents, and watched out of the window as the carriage started moving. The trip would take a few hours, and the king had even extended it slightly to take a detour by the Water kingdom. At first, the decision was questioned by the other kings as the other Air kingdom residents would be taking the regular road. However, the Air king justified the detour by stating it was better for the royal family to go an opposite way in case there was an attack on the main road.

Every so often, Joshua would place his hand on the Water kingdom guard’s uniform on the seat beside him. He knew it would still be there, but there was something comforting about checking. As they came closer to the palace, Joshua’s father asked the drivers to stop. His parents got out of the carriage and Joshua changed into the uniform once the carriage doors shut.

He stepped out and was immediately grabbed by his mother.

“I’m going to miss you so much.” She was crying as she spoke.

“It won’t be forever, we’ll see each other again.” He said, hugging her tightly.

She nodded, “I know, but it will be a while before that. I’m so proud of you.”

Joshua let her pull out of the hug first, he thanked her softly. He turned to his father next, and they hugged as well.

“Don’t forget the plan.” His father said, clearing his throat as he normally did when he was trying not to cry.

“I won’t, we went over it a hundred times.” Joshua let out a small laugh, hoping it would lighten the mood.

“Right, of course, I know that,” His father glanced at the sky, “It’s going to be dark soon, you should get moving.”

Joshua nodded and hugged his parents one last time. Before leaving, he thanked the guards who were there, and walked off. As he walked, he listened for the carriage to start moving. When it did, a few tears fell down his cheeks. This was it. There was no way to turn back and try again later. He could only keep moving forward. 

The trees grew sparser as he got closer to the village, most of the land around the village was either marsh, lake, or river. He had to cross many bridges before he was finally in the ring. He kept his head down as he walked, but he could feel the fearful eyes as he passed. The outer ring was the poorest and was made up of mainly non-benders who experienced a lot more cruelty from guards recently. Joshua kept his hands by his sides and kept walking.

He crossed another bridge into the middle ring, passing a few guards on the way. He could smell the alcohol on them, and they only nodded and drunkenly greeted him as he passed. The middle ring had less distrust of a guard, but there was still tension as he passed by some people. The benders he passed would simply walk by without thinking, but non-benders would pause and watch. Joshua worried that all these eyes would ruin his plan, but they were more concerned about the uniform than who was wearing it.

The trick came when he reached the bridge into the upper ring. The walls were heavily guarded, and he knew he would be checked before he could enter. When he was in the kingdom with Jeonghan, he could pass by these checkpoints with no question, but now he was dressed differently and without the prince. 

The guards at this gate looked at him as he approached, they looked tired.

“Where are you coming from?” One asked, even his voice seemed tired.

“Lower ring, patrol duty.” He said the first words that popped into his head.

“Any arrests today?” The first guard asked, taking a few notes.

“No, everything was quiet.” Joshua answered.

The guard nodded, “You new?”

Joshua nodded quickly, “Yes, sir.”

Both the guards laughed and the second one spoke up, “Next shift, don’t be afraid to make a couple arrests. It looks good on your record.”

“Thank you, sir.” Joshua said, feeling uncomfortable with that advice.

They waved him in, but as he was passing, the second grabbed his arm. Joshua tried not to panic.

“By the way, that uniform looks a little big on you. You should request a smaller one until you can fill that one in. The king wouldn’t like to see his guards look like that.”

Joshua let out a breath, “I’ll do that.”

The guard let go of his arm and Joshua passed into the upper ring. Everyone he walked by paid him no attention. The sun was almost completely down by the time he reached the castle’s doors. He knew he would be stopped and questioned again.

There were more guards here, and they were bigger than the first two.

“Name?” The smaller of the bunch asked.

“Boo Junhwi.” His father had come up with his fake name, using a common family name from the Water kingdom, and an Air kingdom name that was familiar to him.

The guard glanced up, “You’re new?”

“Yes, sir. Today’s my first day.” Joshua answered.

The guard flipped through the book, “Well, we don’t have any records of you coming here today. Maybe your supervisor forgot to notify us.”

Joshua nodded, “It’s possible.”

Another guard stepped forward, “And what business do you have in the castle, Boo Junhwi?”

“I was told to deliver a message to the parents of Boo Seungkwan.” He and his father had made up that excuse too.

“Are they relatives of yours?” The second asked.

Joshua nodded and the guard laughed, “Okay, if that’s all.” He stepped aside and motioned for Joshua to come in.

He had made it just barely past the second guard when the guard cleared his throat, “But you know, they don’t live in the castle anymore after their traitor of a son stayed back in the Fire kingdom.”

Joshua froze, “Oh, I must have been mistaken then.”

“That seems like something a relative would have known, don’t you all think?” He asked loudly, and the other guards agreed, “So who are you really and what business do you have in the castle?”

The guard put his hands on Joshua’s shoulders from behind.

Joshua swallowed thickly, “I told you, my name is Boo Junhwi, and I was told to come here to deliver the message.”

“Well, since we don’t have you on record, maybe you should go get your supervisor to come here and clear this whole thing up for us.”

Joshua looked around, and did the only thing he could think of. He jumped. He pushed himself high into the air, and moved the air around him to glide over the guards and into the castle. They watched him without moving, but once he landed in the castle, they started to chase after him, shouting for other guards to stop him.

He ran to the living quarters, skipping steps as he climbed the main stairs, hoping to run into Jeonghan on his way so he could stop the guards. But instead of Jeonghan, he turned into the living wing and ran directly into Jeonghan’s sister. They both fell to the ground, and she looked at him angrily. Joshua pushed the helmet up just enough that she could see it was him. He mouthed “Boo Junhwi” at her, and she nodded.

The guards caught up to them, grabbing Joshua under the arms and lifting him up.

Jeonghan’s sister stood, “What are you all doing?” She put her hands on her hips.

“Your highness, this boy broke into the castle. Don’t worry, we will take care of him so no harm will come to you or your family.” The guard on his right said.

“No you will not!” She said firmly.

The guards around him started to stammer in confusion.

“I invited him here! This is my friend, Boo Junhwi, and I will not allow you to do anything to him.” Her voice never wavered. Joshua knew she would make an excellent queen once her father died.

The guards looked at each other for a moment before letting Joshua go. They apologized.

“I will not tell my father about this, you may return to your posts.” She said, nodding firmly.

The guards mumbled as they turned to leave. And as soon as they were out of hearing distance, Jeonghan’s sister ran to Joshua and hugged him.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, “And why are you dressed like that?”

“I don’t have any time to explain, is your brother in his room?”

She nodded, “You two are running away, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

She hugged him again, tighter this time, “Take care of him for me, I won’t tell anyone you were here.” She let go and walked around him.

Joshua took off running to Jeonghan’s room, finding two guards posted outside his room. They did nothing as he went to the door, one even went as far as to look the other way. Joshua didn’t know why they were acting so nonchalant about someone just walking into the prince’s room.

Jeonghan was sitting by the window, and he looked over slowly as the door clicked shut behind the air bender. Joshua took his helmet off and it dropped onto the floor. Jeonghan’s face lit up, and he ran over to the other. They hugged each other tightly for a minute.

“Do you have everything packed?” Joshua pulled them apart, not wanting to linger much longer than they needed.

Jeonghan nodded and rushed to his bed, picking up the bag. The doors to Jeonghan’s room burst open.

“What is going on here?” Jeonghan’s father’s voice boomed from behind the air bender.

**Mingyu**

Night had fallen, and they had gathered out in the garden. Mingyu’s new guard didn’t follow them into the maze. He didn’t think anything could happen to the prince in the maze, but the guard was a fool for not remembering he would be with four earth benders.

They walked and spoke loudly to the opposite end of the maze, where they wouldn’t be heard. Despite Jihoon’s initial protests, he agreed to create the tunnel. They would have to go single file, and anyone taller than Seungkwan would have to crouch. He created the initial hole and jumped down first, Seungcheol was the last to jump in so he could close off the top. It was a slow process to get to the other side of the wall, they all knew it. However, Mingyu was feeling impatient and his thighs were starting to burn from crouching. He didn’t voice his complaints though, there was no point in upsetting Jihoon this early.

They passed the castle walls, went a few more feet, and Jihoon carved out the exit. Everyone climbed out and waited for Seungcheol to close off the tunnel.

“Remember, we have to stay quiet and off the main roads. Mingyu’s guard will notice we’re gone soon and go looking. We may only have a few hours before they find us.” Seungcheol whispered, and started walking.

Seungcheol was in front, behind him, Mingyu walked next to Jihoon, then it was Seungkwan and Vernon walking hand in hand, and Soonyoung and Minghao were in the back. The only light they used was the moon, not even wanting to risk making a torch in case someone saw them. It would be a long night.

Halfway to the Earth kingdom, they stopped to rest. Mingyu didn’t want to sit, but Jihoon, without a single word, pulled him next to him. Mingyu bounced his legs as he waited.

Seungcheol looked up at the sky, “It’s getting close to midnight. They probably know we’re gone now.”

“We’re almost there, they won’t be able to find us.” Minghao said, his voice soft but sounded like it boomed through the still night air.

Seungcheol nodded, “I think we should get moving again. We’ll be at the village in an hour or so, and we can rest again there.”

The group stood up and started walking again. MIngyu glanced behind him, seeing the couples behind him holding hands with each other. He looked down as his own and his chest felt empty. They were so close to getting Wonwoo back, only a few more hours left.

The moon was over halfway through the sky by the time they reached the Earth kingdom village. They had been walking for hours, but Mingyu hardly noticed the ache in his legs and feet anymore. His heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest, but it wasn’t from the physical activity.

Seungcheol led them to the house, finding a hidden key in a loose brick and letting the group in. Mingyu looked around at the dark street before walking in. 

“We should get some rest. Soonyoung said he’s going to go to Chan’s in the morning to bring him here, so we have a few hours.” Seungcheol said, grabbing some blanket from a closet space to hand to the others.

Mingyu took a blanket but felt wide awake. He was almost irritated that he was so close to Wonwoo but couldn’t find him until hours later. He laid on the ground next to Jihoon anyway, wrapping himself up with the blanket, closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep. Everyone else seemed to fall asleep so easily, but Mingyu was awake and hearing them breath for hours.

He drifted into a light sleep that only lasted a short while and he felt wide awake after that. Mingyu sat up and looked at the group. It was hard to see, but he could tell Soonyoung and Minghao were wrapped around each other, and that Seungkwan was using Vernon’s chest as a pillow. He heaved a heavy sigh and laid back down, trying to stop himself from thinking about Wonwoo. Eventually, he fell into another light sleep.

**Soonyoung**

He woke to the early morning light streaming onto his face. Soonyoung grumbled slightly, but got up, stretching his stiff limbs. The floor was not the best place to sleep after walking for hours, but it was their only real option. Seungcheol shifted awake as Soonyoung walked towards him.

“Should I go now?” Soonyoung asked quietly.

Seungcheol nodded groggily, “I don’t know what time it is, but just get to the shop.”

Soonyoung went to the door but Seungcheol stopped him, he got up and walked to the closet he got the blankets from. He pulled out a cape with a hood and handed it to the other.

“I don’t know if they’ll be looking for us, but it’s better safe than sorry.”

Soonyoung nodded, throwing the cape around his shoulders and pulling the hood over his face. They nodded to each other as Soonyoung left. The cool morning air hit his face, making his eyes water and sting. While he wasn’t particularly familiar with the street they were on, he knew it wouldn’t be hard to find his way. He just followed the voices of people getting ready to open their shops and stalls. It was still early, and the smell of bread that was being baked filled the streets. It made him feel hungry. After finding Chan, he would stop to buy some breakfast for the group.

The streets started looking familiar, and he found his way to Chan’s shop quickly. Chan’s father was setting up a few crates outside the store when Soonyoung walked up. They greeted each other.

“Is Chan here by any chance?” Soonyoung asked, pulling out a few coins to pay for some fruit to take back to the house.

Chan’s father took the coins and nodded, “He’ll be coming down soon, feel free to wait for him.”

Soonyoung thanked him, picking up some fruit that he held in his shirt. Chan’s father went into the shop and came back out with a bag that he gave to Soonyoung.

“They’re looking for you, you know.” Chan’s father said softly.

Soonyoung snapped his eyes up, “What?”

“You’re Soonyoung, right? I recognize your voice. I came down this morning and a few guards asked if I had seen any of the princes or their friends.”

Soonyoung swallowed thickly, they all knew they would be discovered missing, but he had hoped it wouldn’t be this soon. They were on a heavier time crunch now.

“Don’t worry, if they come back, I’ll lie and say I still haven’t seen you. I don’t know what you all are up to, but I’m assuming it’s important if you came all the way from the Fire kingdom to be here.” Chan’s father smiled warmly, and Soonyoung breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.” Soonyoung smiled back.

At that moment, Chan came running from the side of the shop. He noticed his father was talking to someone, so he came over slowly. His father walked back into the shop.

“Chan, it’s me.” Soonyoung whispered, lifting the hood slightly.

Chan broke into a grin, “Great! Where are the others?” He looked around the street in case they were all hiding somewhere.

“They’re still at the house, come on. We need to hurry though, your dad said guards are looking for us.” Soonyoung started walking and Chan followed closely.

They did stop at a bakery before returning, and Soonyoung sent Chan in with some money to avoid another situation like earlier. Soonyoung waited outside. He noticed a few guards coming down the street, towards where he was standing. He tried to ignore them, and hoped Chan would come back out quickly. Soonyoung was getting more and more nervous the closer they got to him.

Once Chan walked out of the bakery, Soonyoung grabbed his arm and pulled him along.

The two and the guards were now walking towards each other, Soonyoung kept his head down.

“Hey Chan! Long time no see!” One of the guards suddenly greeted them.

“Oh, hey, It’s good to see you!” Chan responded nicely.

“Who’s this?” She asked.

“Him? He’s just my cousin from the Fire kingdom, my relatives came to visit this week so I’m taking him to the lake.” Chan said smoothly.

The two guards nodded, and tried to introduce themselves to Soonyoung, but he didn’t move.

“Sorry, he gets nervous around strangers.” Chan jumped in.

“I get it, sorry! We’ll let you get going, but, before you go, if you see prince Minghao, prince Mingyu, or their friends at all, come find us again. They went missing last night, so we’ve been on the lookout for them all morning.” The first guard said quickly.

“No problem, I hope you can find them.” Chan said, pulling Soonyoung along.

They walked back to the house quickly, managing to not pass any more guards on the way. Soonyoung rushed into the house, slamming the door shut once Chan was inside. The noise woke Seungkwan and Vernon up, the others were already sitting.

“We brought breakfast.” Soonyoung said, holding up the bag of fruit.

Seungkwan groaned and put his head back onto Vernon’s chest. The other Earth kingdom residents greeted Chan like old friends. Soonyoung handed everyone some fruit and bread while Mingyu introduced himself to Chan.

“Anything happen while you were out?” Seungcheol asked.

Soonyoung nodded, “They’re looking for us already.”

Seungcheol hissed slightly, “Shit, I thought we would have more time.”

“We’ll just have to split into smaller groups then. They’ll probably be looking for the seven of us to be together.” Jihoon said, “The four of us split up and take one of the other three, the fourth goes with Chan.”

“I pick Seungkwan!” Soonyoung said, pointing to the water bender that was still trying to wake up.

“I can go with Minghao,” Mingyu volunteered, but Seungcheol shook his head.

“I think you should go with Jihoon, and Minghao goes with Vernon. Chan and I will go in first, just in case we run into trouble on the way.” Seungcheol explained.

Everyone agreed to the plan, and they finished their breakfast in silence. Seungcheol walked around the house, looking for anything they could use to cover their faces. Soonyoung handed Seungcheol the cape he had been wearing and took a wide hat instead.

“Everyone leaves in intervals, it would look suspicious if we all left at once. Whoever leaves last, remember to lock the door as you leave.” Seungcheol said, pulling up the hood before leaving with Chan.

Soonyoung and Seungkwan decided to leave second, but before they left, Minghao grabbed Soonyoung’s hand to stop him.

“See you soon.” Minghao said, kissing Soonyoung’s cheek.

“Yeah,” Soonyoung couldn’t think of anything else to say, he was feeling too nervous.


	12. Ch.12

**Chan**

They waited for the rest of the group in a patch of bushes off the road, Chan didn’t want them to get too close to the house in case Jooheon happened to be looking out the window when they approached. Each pair came from a different direction, it looked less suspicious that way. 

“Who’s staying here to keep watch?” Chan asked after they all had gathered.

Seungcheol, Soonyoung, and Vernon all raised their hands.

“Great, so the rest of you, once Jooheon is past you, you can come to the house. I still don’t know where the keys are, but I figure you guys know how to get chains off someone.” Chan added, getting up slowly.

No one said anything, but Chan didn’t think anything of it as he walked off anyway. He went to the house casually, he had gotten good about acting like he wasn’t actually hiding something. Jooheon was waiting inside the house when he walked in, sitting in his normal seat, with feet propped up on the table.

Jooheon yawned as he noticed Chan walk in, “Good, I was getting really sleepy. I almost fell asleep.”

“You probably could have, I don’t think he’s going anywhere.” Chan said with a laugh, making a small gesture to the basement door.

Jooheon laughed too, “True, guess I’m not using my time as well as I could be.” He walked to the door, always in a rush to leave the house, “I really need to get back home and sleep for the rest of the day, see you later.”

Chan said a quick goodbye, sitting on one of the kitchen chairs, and pretended to get comfortable. As soon as Jooheon’s footsteps faded away, Chan jumped up. He went to the basement door and unlocked it, throwing it open. Before going down, he went back to the kitchen and grabbed some bread to give Wonwoo a little something to eat before he would be traveling. Chan broke off pieces and fed them to the guard, continuously looked back up the stairs as if someone was going to just appear at the top.

“You seem nervous,” Wonwoo commented, his mouth full.

“I’m fine,” He didn’t say much as he listened for the group to come, he hadn’t told Wonwoo that they were coming today.

The door opened and Chan rushed back up the stairs, finding Jihoon, Minghao, Mingyu and Seungkwan walking in. Mingyu immediately looked at Chan ascending the basement steps and took a few steps towards him. Chan stopped him.

“Don’t overwhelm him, I’m the only person he’s actually spoken to in the past couple weeks.” Chan said, holding Mingyu tightly.

“I just need to see him.” Mingyu pleaded, trying to shake Chan off.

“Let me go down first and tell him, he doesn’t know you’re here.” Chan said, and Mingyu agreed reluctantly. The younger turned and went back down the stairs.

Wonwoo looked up at him, “Who’s here?”

“It’s Mingyu, Minghao, Jihoon, and Seungkwan.” Chan told him as he came closer to Wonwoo.

Wonwoo sat up straight, “They came?” His face brightened considerably as he said the words, that was even through his harsh sadness and dark circles under his eyes.

Without warning,Mingyu rushed down the stairs, stopping in the middle and gripping the banister tightly. Wonwoo looked away from Chan, his eyes widening when he saw Mingyu. The guard tried to stand, but the chain was too short, he fell back down. Mingyu scrambled down the rest of the stairs and pushed by Chan to run to Wonwoo, practically falling on him as he pulled the other close. Chan heard muffled sobs but he didn’t know which one was crying.

The other three followed Mingyu down the stairs now, Jihoon immediately going behind Wonwoo to work on the chains. Chan watched as Jihoon tried breaking the chains with rocks, but it wasn’t working. The braces were thick. Apparently there was no other plan to break the chains.

He wanted to distract himself so he wouldn’t stare at Mingyu, but it was hard not to look. The prince had his face buried in Wonwoo’s neck, his shoulders were shaking, and he was sort of rocking on his heels. Wonwoo kept apologizing, his words barely a whisper but audible over the clanking of rocks on chains.

Wonwoo had told Chan everything about Mingyu during their short time together that week. Whenever Chan pictured their reunion, it usually looked something like what was happening. Although the chains would have been off faster in his thoughts.

Seungkwan was on the other side of Wonwoo, trying to better heal his wrists. Minghao was pacing the room, watching Jihoon work; he was getting annoyed that Jihoon couldn’t break the chains. He stormed over.

“There has to be a better way to do this.” Minghao said, squatting down and looking at the chains.

“It’s not earth, we can’t just bend them off!” Jihoon snapped.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion that shook the whole house. Everyone froze, and looked at Chan. His legs moved on their own, he ran back up the stairs to check out the window. There was a huge plume of smoke down the road where the others would have been. He couldn’t see what was happening exactly, but he was sure it wasn’t an accident.

“Shit!” Chan screamed, running back to the stairs, pressing himself against the doorframe, “You better hurry up! Something happened down the road!”

**Jeonghan**

His blood ran cold when his father threw the doors to his room open.

“What is going on here?” His father looked at Jeonghan first, then at Joshua who was still facing away from him. 

Joshua turned slowly, and Jeonghan’s father’s face hardened when he realized who it was. The air bender stepped back, but Jeonghan’s father followed his every step. Jeonghan was trying to think of something to do, but his mind was blank with anxiety and fear.

“We’re leaving.” Joshua said firmly, he reached behind him and grabbed Jeonghan’s arms tightly, “You can’t stop us.”

“Oh, can’t I?” His father sneered, uncapping the pouch on his hip.

Jeonghan stepped in front of Joshua, trying to snap the water from the pouch before his father could. His father was just a beat faster, managing to make a whip from the water. He waved it above his head and cracked it down. Jeonghan put his arms up to cover his face and blocked Joshua from taking the hit. It stung but he didn’t cry out.

His father raised his arm to strike again, but as he was bringing his arm down, the water suddenly lost form. Jeonghan lowered his arms; watching his father start to claw at his throat. It looked like he was choking. Jeonghan looked at Joshua, startled to see Joshua was moving his hands. The doors blew shut on the guards standing outside.

“What are you doing?” Jeonghan shouted,

Joshua was sweating, “It’s fine.”

“Stop it!” Jeonghan yelled, watching his father drop to his knees, “You’ll kill him!”

“It’s what he deserves!” Joshua shouted back, he didn’t even look at Jeonghan but his eyes were intense.

Jeonghan hated seeing Joshua like this, he shoved Joshua harshly to stop him. His father started to suck in air quickly. Joshua looked up at Jeonghan in confusion.

“Let’s just leave, please.” Jeonghan pleaded, grabbing his bag.

His doors were finally broken in and a few guards rushed in. Joshua scrambled to his feet, grabbed Jeonghan’s arm as he ran to the window. He pushed it open, jumped on the sill and helped Jeonghan up.

“Do you trust me?” Joshua asked.

Even with what just happened, Jeonghan didn’t think, he just nodded and closed his eyes and they fell.

**Minghao**

He lightly touched the wrist braces as Jihoon ran up the stairs, Seungkwan was panicking and splashed the water everywhere. Wonwoo turned his head, and started tugging on the chains, hoping to break it off from the wall.

“Hold still! I’m going to try something!” Minghao said, grabbing the wrist braces tightly.

“What are you going to do? You heard Jihoon, you can’t bend it!” Mingyu shouted, there was some pain in his voice.

Minghao didn’t answer, he just closed his eyes and tried to focus on the raw parts of the metal. The more he thought about it, the less he believed he could do it, but he had to try. Metal had to be made from the Earth, most things were. When he pulled his hand up, the metal followed, giving Wonwoo enough space to slip one hand out. Minghao didn’t have the time to celebrate his new found skill, he had to do the other one in a short amount of time. Once Wonwoo was free, he stood on shaky legs, supported by Mingyu. Mingyu threw one of Wonwoo’s arms over his shoulders, and Minghao went to his other side. Seungkwan stayed behind in case the guard started to fall.

Jihoon was at the top of the stairs, blocking the door. There were a few voices arguing outside the house. Jihoon let the four come into the kitchen, but he kept his body facing towards the front door.

“Chan, let us in!” Someone shouted, then grunted, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Sorry!” Chan sounded panicked, he ran back into the house, pressing himself against the door to keep whoever it was outside out.

“Why did they come back?” Jihoon said angrily, letting the group up the stairs.

“They heard you all were here and wanted to help me in case you came to break Wonwoo out.” Chan said, struggling to keep the door shut as someone pounded on the other side.

Minghao broke away from Wonwoo to look out the small kitchen window, hoping to see what was happening down the road, but instead the window was shattered by some kind of bat as he got closer. He turned as quick as he could, but some of the glass still raked across his skin, causing very shallow cuts that still stung. A round ball was thrown into the house, and Jihoon jumped towards it to kick it away. They didn’t know what it was, but it popped and the room started to fill with smoke.

“Is there another way out?” Jihoon coughed.

“Not that they probably don’t already have covered!” Chan shouted back, it sounded like he was holding his breath.

“Well, shit, here goes nothing.” Jihoon said, and he took a hard step forward and shoved his hands out. A hole in the wall burst open, “Let’s go!”

The group ran forward, Wonwoo dropped his arms from Mingyu’s shoulders. He couldn’t run very gracefully but he could still run. Minghao saw Mingyu grab Wonwoo’s hand as they ran. Jihoon, Mingyu, and Wonwoo were in the front. Minghao turned to make sure Seungkwan and Chan were following, grabbing Seungkwan’s arm to pull him faster; Chan was running faster than the water bender so Minghao wasn’t too concerned about him. They ran away from the house, parallel to the village, into the woods, despite knowing they had to have been followed. Another group of people came from the right side, one of them running directly into Jihoon. 

“It’s just us!” Seungcheol shouted before anyone could start attacking in the chaos. He looked around the group wildly, finding Minghao and rushing to him. The guard grabbed Minghao’s arm and pulled him closer as he turned to the rest of the group, “Should we try to go back to the village?”

Jihoon was panting heavily, “That’s probably our only option.”

Minghao made eye contact with Soonyoung just seconds before Vernon yelped loudly. They snapped their attention to him, and Seungkwan screamed. There was so much pain in that scream. Someone had grabbed Vernon from behind when they weren’t looking. They held a knife to his neck.

“Move and I’ll kill him,” The person threatened.

Minghao forgot how to breathe, he was too scared to even turn his head to look at the others, fearing that even that movement could get Vernon killed. He heard twigs snap behind him and his blood ran cold. Beside him, Seungkwan was breathing heavily. Minghao wanted to reach out and grab his hand, to tell him that it was going to be okay. That Vernon would be okay.

But the person holding Vernon suddenly let out a pained groan and the knife dropped out of his hand, falling to the ground. Vernon stumbled towards the group, and Minghao finally turned his head to Seungkwan. He watched as the water bender snapped his wrist up, and the person who had grabbed Vernon twisted.

“What the fuck?” Jihoon shouted, grabbing Vernon and looking around wildly. His eyes landed on Seungkwan and his eyes widened, “Seungkwan, what are you doing?”

Seungkwan didn’t answer, there was anger in his eyes. It was a scary expression from someone who seemed so nice most of the time. Minghao felt frozen again, this time it was his fascination with watching Seungkwan that kept him still.

Out of the corner of his eye, Minghao saw something flash. He tried to push it away but he wasn’t fast enough, it hit Seungkwan directly in the back of the thigh. Seungkwan lurched forward, letting out a pained yelp as the knife dug into his skin, and the person he was somehow controlling fell to the ground. Seungcheol moved in an instant to pick Seungkwan up and threw him over his shoulder.

“Move!” The guard shouted, and he started running in the only direction where there weren’t any people. It was away from the village.

Before following, Minghao slammed a foot into the ground and sent a wave of rocks and earth towards the people chasing them. It threw the people off their balance enough that Minghao felt comfortable turning his back towards them and running off. Mingyu pushed to the front with Wonwoo close by his side.

“I know where to go!” Mingyu turned his head and shouted to the group.

“Is it close?” Seungcheol asked, and Minghao heard Seungkwan suddenly let out a weird gurgling noise, almost like he was either going to throw up or pass out..

“I have no idea!” Mingyu’s voice rang clear as they crossed into a meadow. 

Minghao had only been here occasionally with Mingyu when they were younger. They used to run up to the very edge of the Earth kingdom’s border and dare each other to step into the Air kingdom territory. There wasn’t any risk, it was kids being kids. It was close to a mountain range, so not many people lived around the area.

Soonyoung ran up to Minghao, they glanced at each other as they ran. The other looked so worried, and his face was completely flushed. Minghao tried to smile, but he couldn’t. He didn’t feel anything other than fear, he wasn’t even sure if they would be safe in whatever place Mingyu was taking them. The prince looked back over his shoulder. No one had followed them into the meadow, but that only gave him a little piece of mind. They could be hiding somewhere, waiting for the group to let their guard down before they would strike again.

Soonyoung suddenly grabbed Minghao’s hand, gripping it tightly.

**Joshua**

They were falling fast, but he was able to slow them down before they hit the ground too hard. As soon as their feet hit the ground, they took off running. If they could make it to the river, Joshua was sure they could get away completely. As they got close enough to the wall, Joshua grabbed Jeonghan’s bag and chucked it over the wall, having to give it another puff or two of air for it to clear the top of it. He wrapped his arms around Jeonghan’s waist and jumped.

It was harder to glide with two people, but he managed to get to the top of the wall safely.

“We have to jump again?” Jeonghan asked, his voice shaking.

“You’ll be fine.”

“I know, I just hate it.” Jeonghan closed his eyes like he did at the window.

Joshua turned his head to look at the castle one last time, he could hear some yelling but not what the voices were saying. He stepped off the side of the wall. He was getting better at the landings already.

He took Jeonghan’s hand, picked up the bag, and started quickly walking to the river. Jeonghan was dragging behind. Joshua turned, “What’s wrong?”

“What were you doing to my dad?” Jeonghan asked, refusing to look at him.

“Can we talk about this later? We need to keep going.”

Jeonghan sighed and nodded, still not meeting the other’s eyes. In truth, Joshua was stalling. He couldn’t explain what he had done nor did he really want to. A book he read talked about early air benders doing it, so he just mimicked what he read. Plus, he wasn’t really thinking about the consequences in the moment but he felt horrible about it after doing it.

They went through the river in silence, and once they got to the path to the mill, Joshua stopped Jeonghan. He could risk stopping now, they had gotten far enough away that he was confident they wouldn’t be caught.

“I’m sorry.” He said, “I wasn’t thinking, and I don’t have an excuse. I shouldn’t have done that move, it doesn’t matter what he had done, it was wrong of me.”

Jeonghan finally looked at him, “He’s a shitty man and deserved to be hurt, but that was scary.  _ You  _ looked like  _ him. _ ”

Joshua took Jeonghan’s hand lightly, “I’m so sorry.”

“I forgive you, you could have done something far worse” Jeonghan smiled slightly, “Just don’t do it again unless you really have to.”

Joshua nodded, “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

They walked to their new home quickly, but dawn was starting to break by the time they got there. The small cottage rested at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by a large field of flowers and tall grass. The air was fresh with the morning dew, and there was a slight, chill breeze that made the flowers flutter as they started to bloom in the morning sun. Jeonghan took off running to the house, a large smile on his face. He stopped running halfway to the house and screamed loudly. It was a scream of relief. He was free.

Joshua walked up behind him and pulled him into a tight hug, his face in Jeonghan’s back. Jeonghan spun around, lightly taking Joshua’s face in his hands and bringing his face up to his own. They stood in the field, holding each other, feeling the morning light warm their faces. Jeonghan let his head fall back as he laughed loudly.

“Should we go in and try to sleep?” Joshua asked, taking Jeonghan’s hands into his own.

Jeonghan nodded. Before they walked in, Joshua picked Jeonghan up and carried him through the front door. Joshua tossed the bag onto a chair before letting Jeonghan go. Their bedroom was lofted, and they climbed a ladder to get to the bed. Jeonghan laid on the mattress face first, and Joshua laid next to him on his back. Jeonghan closed his eyes, but Joshua kept his open. He didn’t feel tired, so he only laid next to Jeonghan and watched him drift into a peaceful sleep. As the sun streamed through the window, Joshua touched Jeonghan’s cheek lightly.

There had been other moments like this, but this one was different. All the others had been in spaces that weren’t their own, in castles where they felt trapped or unwanted. Now it was just the two of them, they didn’t have anyone to answer to or anywhere to be. There would be no one who could hurt Jeonghan again. Joshua smiled, his eyes glancing down the sleeping Jeonghan, and he felt full.

As the morning waned on, Joshua slowly got out of the bed. Since he couldn’t sleep, he decided to make some breakfast for when Jeonghan finally woke up. His father had made sure the house would have enough food to last them a few weeks, hoping that by the time they needed to buy more, the search for them would have died down enough that Joshua could slip in and out of a market place unnoticed.

The silence of the home was much different than the bustling of the castle that he was used to. It would take some time before he would be adjusted to being actually alone. One was never completely alone in a castle, even if it felt that way.

That peace didn’t last long. As Joshua went to light the stove, he heard voices approaching the house. He almost dropped the pot, but managed to put it on the counter with shaking hands. He ran to the door, expecting to see Water kingdom guards. Joshua thought about waking Jeonghan up, they might have to run again.

But, the closer the people got, the clearer their voices and faces got. Despite his words to the other prince, Mingyu had brought everyone with him. Joshua ran out of the house to meet them.

“What are you doing? I told you not to bring everyone!” Joshua was trying his best to remain calm.

“We needed another water bender,” Mingyu said quickly, turning to point at Seungcheol who had someone over his shoulder, “Seungkwan got hit with a knife.”

Joshua noticed the blade still in Seungkwan’s blade, his stomach flipped, “Come on.” He didn’t want to let anyone else into the house, it was supposed to be their space, but he didn’t have any other choice. 

Seungcheol looked completely exhausted, and Joshua offered to carry Seungkwan instead. Seungcheol refused, it wasn’t much farther. The peacefulness of the house was disrupted as the group of ten walked in. Joshua cleared the table, and Seungcheol laid Seungkwan onto it carefully, the water bender made a small noise.

Vernon, who looked just as tired as the rest, pulled a chair over and sat by Seungkwan’s head. He took Seungkwan’s hands, and pressed his forehead against them.

“What’s going on?” Jeonghan’s tired voice called from above.

Everyone turned to face him, and Jeonghan looked confused. He looked over at the table, jumping out of the bed, and scrambling down the ladder. He started to speak rapidly about many different things, he seemed annoyed that the group had let his friend get stabbed.

**Wonwoo**

His adrenaline rush was starting to fade, he could feel his legs weakening and his head was starting to pound. Normally, a little blood wouldn’t bother him, but he couldn’t stomach seeing the knife in Seungkwan’s leg anymore. Wonwoo walked out of the house, sitting down on the ground a few feet away, where everyone’s voices weren’t nearly as overwhelming. He closed his eyes and tilted his head to the sky. He missed the sun’s light; it was something he never thought he would have to miss.

He hadn’t been sitting for long before someone came up and sat beside him. They didn’t speak, but Wonwoo had a feeling he knew who it was.

“Thank you.” Wonwoo said, keeping his eyes closed hoping that would stop him from crying again.

“You’re welcome.” Mingyu replied softly.

They didn’t say anything more for a few moments, the only sounds were the occasional shouts from the others in the house and the birds chirping.

Wonwoo opened his mouth to say something but Mingyu put a hand on his arm, “You don’t have to say anything.”

“Yes I do.” Wonwoo finally opened his eyes, and looked at Mingyu. “You were right.”

“Wonwoo, you don’t have to do this right now.”

Wonwoo narrowed his eyes, “We might not get another time like this.”

“Stop it.” Mingyu looked slightly pained as he said it.

The guard reached out and lightly put a hand on Mingyu’s cheek, “I was being stupid, I was worried about how other people would react and didn’t think about how you were really feeling. I know I hurt you, and I’m sorry. This whole time we’ve been apart, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. At some point, I convinced myself that you would have just forgotten about me, it was easier than thinking about you hurting.”

“So what are you saying?” Mingyu whispered.

Wonwoo leaned in, their foreheads touching, “I love you, and I think I have for awhile.”

Mingyu smiled, he shifted onto his knees, grabbing Wonwoo’s face and pulling him in for a kiss. The prince tried to pull away, but Wonwoo pulled him back by the hips. Mingyu fell forward, almost knocking Wonwoo over, but he caught himself before they could fall. 

“I’m sorry too,” The prince said, “For being a brat. I shouldn’t have pushed you so far.”

“That’s just who you are.” Wonwoo said back.

“No excuses, I should have given you some space when you asked for it. If you weren’t thinking about how I was really feeling, then I definitely wasn’t. So, I’m sorry.”

Wonwoo kissed him again, “I forgive you.”

“Hey, lovebirds,” Minghao’s voice barked into the open field, causing the two to pull apart, “Get in here, we have to talk.”

Mingyu stood first, pulling Wonwoo up as he did. Before the prince could walk into the house, Wonwoo stopped him to kiss him for the third time. He had forgotten what it was like the first time, it was time for new, and better, memories. They walked back into the house holding hands, and no one made any sort of comments about it.

Seungkwan was laying on the couch with his injured leg propped up on the back of it and his head on Vernon’s lap. Seungcheol was sitting in an armed chair, his expression blank and exhausted. The others were sitting in various places, in various states of shock, distress, and exhaustion. Most were mixes of the three. Joshua and Jeonghan were the only two standing.

“So, what’s your plan from here?” Joshua asked, crossing his arms.

No one answered. Wonwoo looked at all their blank expressions, a pit formed in his stomach. There wasn’t a plan for this situation.

Jeonghan sighed when he noticed their blank expressions, “Fine, just rest here for tonight, we can figure something out in the morning.”

“We should travel at night.” Seungcheol finally spoke up.

“Whatever, just relax, and try to sleep. We’ll make you guys something to eat before you go.” Jeonghan replied with a shrug.

“Are we going back to the Earth kingdom?” Vernon asked.

“Not if those guys are there,” Joshua said, already walking back to the kitchen, “It’d be easier to go to the Air kingdom. My father can help you from there.”

“He’s going to question us.”

“Of course!” Joshua had raised his voice, “You all ran away from the Fire kingdom, managed to find the kidnapped guard, got Seungkwan stabbed in the fucking leg, and somehow escaped to the Air kingdom. There are going to be questions, but you have no other choice.”

“Are we going to be asked about you two?” Mingyu asked, “They might want to know who helped us after getting out of the Earth kingdom.”

“My father won’t ask about it, he knows we’re out here. Who knows, he might even tell you what you should say if asked that question.” Joshua answered, finally able to light the stove.

Wonwoo leaned against the wall and slid down, Mingyu sat next to him almost instantly. They grabbed each other's hand, and Mingyu put his head on Wonwoo’s shoulder. No one in the room was paying them any attention, except for the occasional look from Chan. Wonwoo suddenly realized Chan had been ripped from his home abruptly, without a promise of returning. He didn’t know how to bring it up, nor did he want to add more stress to everyone by bringing it up. Also, he was sure they had already thought about it, it wasn’t like they didn’t see him sitting in the room with them.

Wonwoo watched, from his very limited view, Joshua and Jeonghan working in the kitchen. He hadn’t thought to question why they were here and not in their respective castles, but there hadn’t been an opportunity to ask. “Hey,” he nudged Mingyu lightly.

The prince groaned in response, apparently haven fallen asleep in the few minutes they had been sitting together. Wonwoo didn’t try to fully wake him up, it was better to let him sleep. He could ask his question later. Instead, Wonwoo leaned his head on top of Mingyu’s. He wasn’t feeling tired enough to sleep. His mind was racing now. 

They were practically safe. No one had followed them, and once they got into the actual Air kingdom, there would be more guards keeping an eye on them. The problems would come up when they got back to the Fire kingdom. How much punishment would they all get into when they faced the kings? What would happen to Chan? What would the plan be in dealing with the Purple Lighting? Wonwoo felt like he was the only one worrying about these things.

Joshua suddenly walked up to him, holding out two bowls to him, “Here.”

Wonwoo lifted his head quickly and took the bowls, “Thank you.”

Joshua nodded and gave him a tired smile. He went back to the kitchen as Wonwoo finally woke Mingyu up. Mingyu took a deep breath as he sat up; he hadn’t been asleep for long, but it was long enough to be woken from a deep sleep.

“Sorry, I think you should eat something.” Wonwoo said, handing one of the bowls to Mingyu.

Mingyu nodded sleepily, taking the bowl as he yawned. Wonwoo watched as Mingyu started to eat through half-lidded eyes. The prince looked over, and with a mouth full of food said “You need to eat too.”

Wonwoo couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he nodded. Everyone ate in silence. There were a lot of words that could have been spoken, but it was better to leave it all unsaid at the time. The next steps had been put together, now was the time for processing. Wonwoo didn’t think there was anything left for him to think about. He tried to let his mind go blank.

As he finished eating, Joshua came over and exchanged their bowls for a few blankets.

“Try to get some sleep,” he said, then turned to the rest of the group, “If you leave just before sundown, you’ll make it back to the village before it’s completely dark. I’ll write the directions down while you sleep.”

**Chan**

They left for the Air kingdom when Joshua suggested, the setting sun at their backs as they left the small cottage. Chan looked back a few times as they walked away. He felt like he was regurgitating his nerves from the morning the further away they got, it was unsettling not knowing what could happen next. But, he figured that as long as he was with the group, he would be alright. They wouldn’t leave him alone.

Jihoon walked next to him, and Chan almost thought to ask if he regretted getting Wonwoo back. He had a look on his face the whole day that Chan couldn’t explain, at first he thought it was jealousy, but the more he thought about it, the more ridiculous that notion seemed. It was stress. Although, Chan had never seen anyone be jealous so perhaps, he thought, it could still be a possibility.

The group walked without speaking, save for Seungcheol occasionally giving the next direction. They could hear the bustling of the nightlife in the village the closer they got. The smell of food being cooked made Chan’s stomach growl, despite having eaten something before they left. 

It was a different place entirely, but as soon as they got close enough to see the village, Chan was hit with an overwhelming sense of familiarity. He suddenly realized how much he missed home. It had been less than a day, but he wanted to sleep in his own bed that night, knowing that he was safe. When he agreed to help everyone, he never imagined it would take him all the way out to the Air kingdom, but here he was.

Many of the Air kingdom residents gave them odd looks as they passed, some mothers went as far as to pull their children closer to themselves. Chan hadn’t thought about how they looked, but as he glanced over at Jihoon he realized they all looked like a mess. They were sweaty, dirty, and clearly exhausted. It also didn’t help that Seungkwan had a large bloodstain on the back of his pants.

Chan kept his head down as they walked, not wanting to meet the eyes of so many strangers, which would normally not bother him. He would glance up occasionally just to check how close they were to the castle. It felt so far away. But the closer they got, the more whispered followed them.

Eventually, but later than expected, they were stopped by a number of guards.

“Where do you all think you’re going?” One shouted to them.

Chan did his best to remain calm, letting Mingyu and Minghao handle it.

“We’re going to the castle, we have to talk to the king.” Minghao said firmly.

The guards started muttering to each other, and the crowd of Air kingdom residents started to chat amongst themselves that the princes were  _ here.  _

The first guard stepped to the side, “Yes, of course, your Highnesses. We will escort you and your group to the castle.”

Chan didn’t feel at ease with the guards, the formality bothered him. He wasn’t used to guard escorts and the kind of respect that came from being associated with royalty. He did his best to act natural by following Jihoon’s lead. 

They were greeted at the castle gates by an official looking person, he scanned their dirty faces, but stopped at Chan.

“And, who is this? I don’t recognize him.” He asked, pursing his lips.

“Lee Chan,” Minghao answered for the other, “He’s a friend.”

“Does this friend  _ belong  _ in the castle? We don’t just let anyone see the king.” The official asked again.

“He’s with us so he does belong.” Minghao’s voice lowered, there was a twinge of anger in his tone.

The official made a “hmph” noise as he turned and walked into the castle. The group followed, and led to the throne room. Chan stared at the marble pillars and white stone walls and ceilings in amazement. He had never been in a castle before, he wondered if they all looked like this. The sounds of their steps echoed in the throne room, the closed windows let in no noise from the streets below. The walls were most empty, so there wasn’t much to deafen the noise.

Chan looked at the white, empty throne. It hardly looked comfortable, even with blue padding lining the back and the seat areas. Chan couldn’t imagine being a king and sitting on it for hours at a time. He wondered what the room would look like in the morning, with the light streaming in from the large, colored windows behind the throne. There was a small amount of hope that they would stay in the castle overnight so he could see it.

A door on the left side of the room swung open, and the king strode into the room. He looked to be dressed for bed, but with a long robe that flowed behind him as he walked. It was a weird combination of clothes to Chan, but perhaps it was a normal look for the Air king. The king sat on his throne calmly, his robe pooling around his feet. Everyone bowed quickly.

“And to what do I owe the pleasure of the...ten of you visiting me at this hour?” The king asked, scanning the group, his eyes landing briefly on Chan as he spoke. He looked confused but only momentarily.

“We-” Mingyu started, but the king put a hand up.

“You ran away from your kingdom to free your guard, that much is obvious, and I know it’s what you want to say first. Just tell me why you are  _ here _ and not currently headed back to the Fire kingdom. Also, I hope you can explain why you are so...dirty.”

“We were attacked by the Purple Lighting after getting Wonwoo,” Mingyu said calmly, “They blocked us from getting back to the Earth kingdom village, so our only option was the run here.”

The king took a deep breath, sitting back in his throne, “I’m glad to see you escaped without too many injuries,” he pointed to Seungkwan’s leg, “I can tell he was, though. Have you been treated for your injury?”

Seungkwan glanced down as his leg, “Yes, your highness.”

“Yourself?”

Seungkwan shook his head, “No.”

“And is this unfamiliar face a water bender as well?” The king asked, nodding to Chan now.

Chan looked at the others before answering simply, “No.”

The king sat silently before seemingly struck with some kind of realization, “I understand. Well, I can offer you a place to rest tonight, and safe travel accommodations tomorrow morning.” He motioned for a few servants to come over, “You will be given baths, a change of clothes, beds, and breakfast in the morning.”

The group bowed again, all thanking the king for his generosity. The servants gestured for the group to follow, and the two princes took the lead. Jihoon walked next to Chan.

“You can relax, the king might be a bastard, but he’s nice sometimes.” Jihoon said softly.

Chan chuckled slightly, “I’ll try.”

Jihoon touched Chan’s arm lightly, “Sorry we can’t get you back home tonight.”

Chan shook his head, “It’s fine, it’s probably best if I don’t go back for a little. I don’t know what Seokmin would do if he-” Chan sucked in a breath.

“Who’s Seokmin?” Jihoon asked.

“No one.”

Jihoon didn’t press further, they had reached the bath house. Other things could be dealt with later, now was not the time. 


	13. Ch.13

**Jihoon**

They were all given clothes to sleep in after bathing, and Jihoon considered asking one of the fire benders to burn the ones he had been wearing before. They smelled awful, and he almost didn’t think they were worth saving. But he knew how much he would regret doing that, he didn’t own a lot of pants that were as comfortable to run in, so he’d keep these for at least a little while longer. Eventually, after many washes, the smell would have to come out. One of the servants gave him a bag for the dirty clothes, and he shoved them in as he was led to where the group would be sleeping.

The princes would be sharing one room, their guards in another, and the rest would have to share a room. There were 5 beds lined up against either wall, all neatly made with blankets of the typical Air kingdom sky blue and white. Soonyoung was already lounging on one, while Seungkwan and Vernon sat on another together. Chan still hadn’t come to the room yet. 

Jihoon put the bag of his old clothes on the floor by the foot on the bed, he took one of the beds on the opposite wall to the other three. Chan came in a few minutes later, he bowed deeply to the servant who dropped him off. The servant looked at him in confusion, saying it was “his pleasure.” Chan took the bed next to Jihoon and sat down, messing with the strings of his bag.

“Long day?” Soonyoung asked with a light chuckle.

Chan looked up, now that the dirt was washed from his face, it was easier to see the dark circles under his eyes, “Yeah, you too?”

The group let out laughter, Jihoon’s laugh felt like one of relief. He relaxed his shoulders slightly, something that he found himself doing a lot since they walked into the Air kingdom. No one talked much, only Seungkwan and Soonyoung would say something occasionally, but it was mainly to the other.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in!” Soonyoung called with a sing-song tone.

The door opened, and an unexpected face appeared.

“Junhui?” Jihoon tried to look unsurprised, but he had a hard time doing so. He knew Junhui lived in the Air kingdom, he just wasn’t expecting to see him.

Junhui completely dismissed everyone else in the room, looking only at Jihoon. He smiled, “You’re okay!” The air bender crossed the room quickly, sitting on the edge of Jihoon’s bed.

“How’d you know I was here?” Jihoon asked, absentmindedly shifting closer towards Junhui. 

“Oh, you all are the talk of the village! Two missing princes and their friends show up out of the blue, and look super dirty and beat up. People like telling stories, and that was the most interesting thing that has happened all week!” Junhui explained, his eyes sparkling, “One my friends heard it from his girlfriend and he came running to tell me about it. I got curious, so I came to the castle to see if you were with them.”

“They just you in?” Jihoon asked, leaning his elbows onto his thighs.

Junhui nodded, “Of course! I was best friends with the prince! It also helps that my parents work for the king and queen all the time, I know most of the staff here.”

“Speaking of Joshua, are you going to be okay now that he’s gone?” Jihoon asked, he started to play with the blanket.

Junhui shrugged, “I might get bored, but I have other friends.”

“Well, maybe at some point you could come to the Earth kingdom to visit me. Or, I could come here again, but under better circumstances.” Jihoon said, his face went slightly pink as he spoke. He stopped looking at Junhui.

Junhui laughed, poking Jihoon’s cheek lightly, “I’d like that.”

Jihoon suddenly felt like he needed to explain himself, “Since Mingyu got Wonwoo back, I won’t feel as worried about him anymore. Things might go back to normal, so we could-”

“Try again?” Junhui finished the statement.

Jihoon’s face went red now, his ears grew hot. He remembered that there were other people in the room too, which only made it worse. He wondered if they were listening to what they were saying, “Sure, but we could at least just be around each other.”

Junhui chuckled, “Alright, do you want me to come back to the Fire kingdom with you? Or is it too soon for that?”

Jihoon glanced at Chan, who looked like he was trying not to listen. As much as Jihoon wanted to say yes, he didn’t want to be distracted and then have something happen on the road. He knew Chan wasn’t defenseless, but he still felt a sort of responsibility for his safety. It wasn’t as if Jihoon himself had suggested they ask Chan for help, but since Seungcheol was already focused on keeping Minghao safe, he took the role of watching out for Chan. Jihoon shook his head to Junhui, “We just need to finish what we’ve started, and I’ll come back for you. It’ll just be a little longer, but soon.”

Junhui nodded, “I can wait.”

**Seokmin**

He didn’t know what to do. There was never a plan for what was happening now. Everyone suddenly decided he wasn’t fit to make decisions anymore since Chan turned out to be friends with the benders and also because Seokmin had  _ let them go. _ They couldn’t understand why. The whole group was so open to an attack, they could have grabbed the princes too. Instead, Seokmin said it “wasn’t the right time” and to let them all get away.

Changkyun accused Seokmin of betraying the cause, calling him weak and ineffectual. They were so close to their goal but Seokmin decided to just let it slip out of their grasp. The criticism bounced around in his head. He was sitting alone in his room, in the completely empty house. Seokmin said he needed time to think about what was next, but he knew they wouldn’t listen to whatever he decided on. 

Seokmin gave up his position as the leader as soon as he told them all to fall back.

“You don’t even know  _ why _ I told you all to stop!” Seokmin had shouted through the others guilting him.

“Who gives a shit what reason you had, we could have grabbed them!” Changkyun had screamed back, his face red in anger and his fists tight.

That was when Changkyun pulled his arm back and punched Seokmin directly in the jaw, before Seokmin could even begin to explain himself. Seokmin had stumbled back, almost falling to the ground from the impact, while Changkyun hissed in pain as he shook his hand.

As Seokmin thought about the punch, his jaw throbbed slightly. It was as if he had relived the punch. After that, Seokmin told everyone to leave him alone. He wasn’t interested in explaining himself anymore. If he had been given the opportunity, he would have reminded them of what that person had done to Namjoon. No one could explain it, Namjoon couldn’t even describe what had happened to him. He said later that he felt all of his muscles contracting and he felt like he had been possessed by something.

Even before asking about it, Seokmin knew it would have been painful and he didn’t want to risk catching the group and another of his friends going through the same thing. It would have been an even match up, but Seokmin didn’t know the extent of the round faced boy’s abilities. There would be other opportunities. Or so Seokmin had assumed.

Now, instead of planning the group’s next move, Seokmin was planning what he, individually, was going to do next. He knew Changkyun would become the leader and as soon as he did, the group’s tactics would immediately step up. There would be more attacks on benders, with the possibility of death in most cases. As much as he believed in their movement, he couldn’t stand for unnecessary death like Changkyun seemed to support.

Seokmin wanted change, but not out of extreme fear. Of course, he knew people were already afraid of them, but it was from the threats and no actual killings. That could ruin their long-term goals.

Suddenly, he had a thought. It would probably work, but it might not. Either way, he had to try. He quickly climbed off his bed, grabbing the jacket hanging off the wobbly chair in the corner of his room, and he walked down the stairs to the kitchen. His footsteps echoed through the empty house. By the time anyone came back, he would be long gone. Before leaving, he grabbed some food for the road. He didn’t know how long it takes to walk to the Fire kingdom.

Seokmin took one last, long look at the house before leaving. It would be the last time he would see it.

**Seungcheol**

It was an odd feeling, standing in the same room as Wonwoo. They hadn’t seen each other for weeks and their first day seeing each other again had been so messy. Wonwoo looked incredibly tired, but Seungcheol couldn’t blame him for that. He knew he was tired too, but he had a lot of questions. Where to begin was the first of them.

“So,” Seungcheol started, folding his dirty shirt before putting it into a bag, “How long until you’ll take your old job back?”

“That’s your first question?” Wonwoo asked, smiling slightly from where he lay.

“What should I have started with? Something about you and Mingyu?” Seungcheol responded, trying to keep the mood light.

“I expected it, since both those answers rely on each other.” Wonwoo answered with a shrug.

“Oh?”

“We didn’t say it out loud, but I think we both want a relationship. The issue is, I want to remain as a guard, specifically his, but I’m not sure how his parents are going to take that.”

“At least you’ve made it one step further than before.”

Wonwoo arched a brow, “How so?”

Seungcheol sat on his bed, “Before, you didn’t even want the relationship, but now you do.”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo let out a strained laugh, “I was being stupid, being kidnapped really gives you time to think.”

Seungcheol let out a loud laugh, “There are easier ways to get that.”

“Not in this line of work.” Wonwoo agreed, laughing as well.

Their laughter died down and they sat silently again.

“How are you going to tell Mingyu’s parents?” Seungcheol asked before the silence became unbearable.

“We didn’t get that far yet.” Wonwoo answered simply.

“You’ll have the whole trip back tomorrow to do that then. If it helps, I think the king and queen already suspect something between you two. When you left, Mingyu really didn’t take it too well.” 

Wonwoo looked over, his face sad, “Can you tell me about it?” 

Seungcheol took a deep breath, “I might not be the best person to tell you about it. Jihoon-”

“I’m asking you, Jihoon gets too sensitive about Mingyu. I think he would yell at me.” Wonwoo said, offering a smile.

Seungcheol gave a tense laugh, “You’re right, he would. Then fine, I’ll tell you.”

Wonwoo nodded encouragingly. Seungcheol was almost confused as to why Wonwoo wanted to know so badly, but he didn’t ask.

“After your fight, he completely skipped breakfast. The rest of us, except for Jihoon, went to see him after. He refused to talk. All he wanted to do was lay in his bed and cry. Eventually, Jihoon came and got him out of bed. But he was so out of it emotionally, we all had to be careful about what we said around him.” Seungcheol paused, “Of course, the worst came after we found out you got kidnapped.”

Wonwoo looked away, towards his hands. 

“But we don’t have to talk about that-”

Wonwoo shook his head, “No, just tell me. I want to know.”

Seungcheol breathed deeply, waiting a moment before talking about that morning, “The news came right after breakfast, Mingyu had asked the messengers about you specifically,” Wonwoo shifted as Seungcheol said it, “They told him you were unaccounted for, and he sort of passed out. Seungkwan called it a panic attack, but it was scary to watch. He was gasping for breath, and looked so out of it.”

Wonwoo looked visibly concerned, his lips a tight line and his brow furrowed deeply. 

“I’ll stop.” Seungcheol said.

“It’s fine, I didn’t think he would have had that kind of reaction. I thought he wouldn’t have cared so much.” Wonwoo confessed.

“Why would you say that?”

“I thought he hated me.”

“I don’t think he could ever hate you. Who do you think pushed for your rescue?”

Wonwoo looked up slightly, his eyes didn’t quite reach Seungcheol’s, but a small smile touched his lips. Things that seemed obvious to Seungcheol had obviously not occurred to Wonwoo.

**Seungkwan**

He hadn’t let go of Vernon’s hand since they had gotten to the room, and he barely moved from a cross legged position on the bed either. He was trying to keep up conversations with Soonyoung, but he was still trying to process everything that had happened during the day. At one point that same day, he thought he was about to lose Vernon and in the same breath he thought he was going to lose himself. It was a lot to take in.

At one point, he had noticed Junhui come and go, but since the conversation wasn’t directed at him, he paid it no attention. He wanted to sleep but knew that as soon as he closed his eyes he would only see Vernon with the knife to his throat. Seungkwan couldn’t stomach seeing it again.

Vernon suddenly shook Seungkwan’s arm, trying to get his attention.

“What?” Seungkwan snapped his head up, realizing he had completely left the room mentally.

“Jihoon was trying to ask you something,” Vernon looked concerned.

Seungkwan looked across the room at Jihoon, who was sitting alone on his bed now, “Sorry, what was your question?”

“I wanted to know what it was that you did to that guy today.” Jihoon said, his tone casual.

For a moment, Seungkwan didn’t know what Jihoon was referring to but then it struck him. He had done  _ something  _ to the person who threatened Vernon, but even he didn’t know what he did, “I...don’t really know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? You did it.” Jihoon said, firmer this time.

Seungkwan swallowed thickly, “I didn’t think about it, it just happened.”

“It was like you were bending  _ him,  _ I’ve never seen anything like that before.” Soonyoung spoke up now.

“Maybe I was, I’m not too sure. Humans are mostly water so it’s possible that-”

“But how?” Jihoon cut in, “It shouldn’t be possible, right?”

“I don’t know!” Seungkwan shouted, “It’s like Minghao bending those metal cuffs, as long as there is a piece of our element, it’s possible. I just know I won’t do it again.”

Soonyoung and Vernon looked confused, they didn’t know about Minghao bending metal until that moment.

“Minghao can bend metal?” Soonyoung asked.

Jihoon looked at Soonyoung, “Yes, but we can talk about that later. I want Seungkwan to keep talking about this bending humans thing.”

“There’s nothing left to say! I said I don’t know how I did it, and that’s all I have. I think we can talk about Minghao bending metal now.” Seungkwan snapped.

Jihoon grumbled under his breath before turning back to Soonyoung, “I told him we couldn’t bend metal, but then he did. That’s all I can say.”

“Should we go get him? We could ask him about it.” Soonyoung suggested.

“You just want an excuse to see him again,” Jihoon said as he rolled his eyes, “Can’t you two be apart for an extended period of time?”

“I was just thinking he might be able to explain what happened better,” Soonyoung said, a slight blush on his cheeks.

“I think we’d run into the same issue like with Seungkwan,” Vernon said, “He might not be able to explain what happened.”

Chan suddenly cleared his throat, “It’s like with your regular bending, I bet it’s hard to explain how you do that.”

Everyone thought about it but agreed quickly.

Chan sighed, “At least metal bending is interesting. Bending a human is scary, I’m glad I can’t do that.”

“You think I’m scary?” Seungkwan shouted, exaggerating a scowl, hoping Chan realized he was just joking around.

“Very scary,” Chan pretended to shudder.

Seungkwan raised his hand, and Chan flinched away, curling onto his bed as he laughed loudly. The water bender knew what he did was scary, now vividly remembering the way that person had twisted and turned because of whatever it was that Seungkwan was doing to him. All he wanted now was to keep that ability a secret, it would probably not be good if more people found out he could bend a human. He worried that if king Yoon discovered the ability, he would force Seungkwan to teach him. It would become just another tourture tactic to be used by the Water kingdom guards. It could, on the other hand, be helpful but Seungkwan did not want to think about a situation in which it would.

Chan’s laughter died out, and they fell back into the silence. Seungkwan shifted and laid down, putting his head in Vernon’s lap. This was how he wanted to stay.

**Minghao**

“You bended metal!” Mingyu seemed in a much better mood after he got cleaned up. Minghao wasn’t sure if it was the bath or the fact that he had Wonwoo back caused his good mood.

“Yeah,” Minghao wasn’t sure how else to respond, so he laughed.

“I wish I could do something like that,” Mingyu added, he was refusing to sit down.

“It was hard, it’s going to be like learning to bend all over again.” Minghao had a feeling he knew why the other wouldn’t sit down; the other was itching to see Wonwoo again. Of course, he didn’t blame him. If Minghao had to go weeks without Soonyoung, he would probably feel the same way. “You know, if you leave, I won’t stop you.”

Mingyu let out a nervous laugh, “I wasn’t planning on leaving.”

“Then why don’t you sit down.” Minghao gestured at the various chairs in the room.

Mingyu cleared his throat, walking to a chair and sitting down uneasily.

“Good, glad you’re sitting because now I want to talk with you for hours about whatever comes to mind.” Minghao said with a smirk

Mingyu jumped up, “Fine! I want to go see Wonwoo!”

“I knew it!” Minghao jumped up as well, “Why don’t you just go? He’s next door.”

“I didn’t want to leave you alone.” Mingyu stated, smiling kindly.

Minghao gave him a shy smile in return, “If you kick Seungcheol out of the room, tell him to go get Soonyoung for me.”

Mingyu nodded, “Sure, I can do that.” He started to the door, leaving quickly.

Minghao relaxed back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. His mind went to Jeonghan and Joshua, in their small cottage in the middle of nowhere. If it wasn’t for his obligation to take over after his father, he would want to do the same thing. It would be a nice place to paint. Of course, he would invite Soonyoung to come along with him. Out there, Soonyoung’s judgemental father wouldn’t be there to give them awful looks.

The door opened and Soonyoung’s soft “oh” brought Minghao back to the real world. That ideal life would just live in the back of mind and be the place he would go to when things got rough. Minghao propped himself onto his elbows, smiling at Soonyoung as he walked in the room.

“Your beds are much bigger than ours.” Soonyoung said, he gazed around the room.

That was another thing he wished for, for Soonyoung to finally feel completely comfortable in spaces with him. Soonyoung walked over to the bed, sitting in the middle of it, placing one hand on the opposite side of Minghao.

“Jihoon rolled his eyes when Seungcheol told me to come here.” Soonyoung said.

Minghao let out a small giggle, “Yeah? How do you feel about that?”

Soonyoung gave him a weird look, “It didn’t bother me, he does it all the time.”

“Does it ever bother you when people give us weird looks? Like your father-”

Soonyoung hit Minghao lightly on the arm, “Hey, why are you asking weird questions? Are you okay?”

Minghao nodded, “I’m fine.”

Soonyoung gave him a doubtful look, reaching out to lightly touch Minghao’s chin, “No you aren’t, what’s bothering you?”

“There’s a lot of things.”

“I’ll listen.”

Minghao laid back onto the bed, putting his arms under his head, “I was thinking about Jeonghan and Joshua.”

Soonyoung nodded, “What about them?”

“What it would be like to do what they did.”

Soonyoung paused, “You mean run away together?”

“Sure.”

“Minghao, are you thinking about running away?”

He laughed nervously, “No, not actually running away, but what it would be like to do it. I just want to know what it’s like to live like them for a while.”

“You could probably get that from a vacation, like a honeymoon of some sort…” Soonyoung’s voice trailed off like he was getting lost in thought.

Minghao jolted up, it felt like the word had jumped out of the other's mouth and struck him in the face, “Soonyoung?”

“I don’t know if you would truly be alone on a honeymoon either, but it would be more likely than just a standard vacation.” Soonyoung was lost in his thoughts, talking aloud instead of keeping it inside.

Minghao shook Soonyoung’s arm, “Soonyoung!”

Soonyoung snapped to attention, “What?”

“What are you thinking about?” Minghao asked, hoping he wasn’t just jumping to conclusions.

“A honeymoon.” Soonyoung answered quickly.

Minghao gave him a look that told the other to explain.

“You know, a married couple going away to be with each other for a month.” Soonyoung looked confused.

“No, I know what a honeymoon is. What exactly are you thinking about it for?”

Soonyoung shrugged, “Maybe one day we could have one.”

Minghao smiled, “You want to get married?”

Soonyoung blushed, “Maybe not yet, but someday I could see it happening.”

Minghao leaned in and kissed Soonyoung quickly, “Now isn’t the best time to think about getting married, but I agree.”

“Once all this craziness is over, I promise I’ll tell my parents about us. Once we get that out of the way, we would just have to convince your parents.”

“I don’t think  _ my _ parents are going to be the problem, we both know how your dad is.” Minghao replied.

“He’ll come around. Eventually.” Soonyoung laid down on the bed now, and Minghao did the same; Soonyoung on his stomach and Minghao on his back.

“Sometimes I wish we could run away though, or that I wasn’t a prince. We could just be ourselves, and people couldn’t tell us what to do.” Minghao sighed.

Soonyoung nodded, “Sure, it’s nice to think about.”

“Do you think Mingyu ever thinks about that?” Minghao looked over at Soonyoung as he asked.

“It’s likely, especially since knowing Jeonghan and Joshua ran away. He probably thought about it a lot because of Wonwoo.”

Minghao nodded, “What are they going to do now? They’ll tell Mingyu’s parents about each other, but what about after that?”

Soonyoung yawned, “It depends on what the king and queen say.”

“I would run away with you if our parents told us they didn’t approve.” Minghao said suddenly.

Soonyoung laughed, “Back to that?”

Minghao nodded, rolling onto his side, almost nose to nose with the other, “I think about it a lot.”

“Can we think about it later? I’m too tired to think now.” Soonyoung said, his eyes fluttering shut.

Minghao smiled as he kissed Soonyoung’s forehead softly, “Sleep well.”

**Chan**

In the morning, Chan woke up before everyone else. New places always made it hard for him to sleep, and quiet, strange castles did not help. He sat up in his bed, the early morning light barely illuminated the room, but he could see everyone else still sleeping. Jihoon was in the bed next to him, Seungcheol across from him, and diagonal was Seungkwan and Vernon sharing one bed. It was impressive that they felt comfortable enough together to share such a small bed. Just as surprising was that Seungcheol stayed in this room all night, Chan half expected him to have gone back to the guard room in the middle of the night.

Seungcheol suddenly shifted in his bed, clearly stretching while still under the covers. The guard sat up, reaching his arms over his head. The two made eye contact; Chan smiled and whispered a quick “good morning.” Seungcheol nodded back before standing. Chan watched as Seungcheol bent over to stretch his legs some more. It made Chan think about how stiff his legs were.

“I should go,” Seungcheol whispered, “Not sure how the Air kingdom would react to our changed sleeping arrangements.”

Chan nodded and waved as Seungcheol left the room quietly. Now Chan got out of the bed to stretch. Both of his legs felt odd from the amount of running he had done the previous day, he wasn’t used to long distance running, only carrying heavy crates up and down some stairs. Jihoon suddenly took in a deep breath and he groaned slightly. The sun had brightened the room more now, and the castle was clearly starting to wake up as well.

The door opened, and Soonyoung tiptoed into the room, smiling at Chan as he walked across the room to the bed Seungcheol had been sleeping in. He was surprised that Soonyoung had actually come back, he had assumed Seungcheol had only gone back to the guard room. Did the guard tell Soonyoung to come back?

Someone new came into the room, they were clearly from the Air kingdom with their white robe and gold sash that tied it shut. They were carrying a stack of white clothes, which they placed a set of clothes on each person’s bed before leaving again. Chan said a silent prayer as he picked up the clothes, ‘ _ please be pants.’ _ It was. He breathed a sigh of relief before getting dressed. Unfortunately, the clothes were stiff and uncomfortable. 

Jihoon rolled out of his bed, grabbing the clothes roughly and shivering as he changed. Soonyoung changed quickly then went to wake Seungkwan and Vernon up. Chan started to make the bed.

“What are you doing?” Jihoon asked, pulling the shirt over his head.

Chan looked up, realizing the question was directed at him, “Making the bed.”

Jihoon gave him an odd look as he tucked the shirt into his waistband, “You don’t have to, I think they’ll just strip the sheets off once we leave anyway.”

“Oh, sorry.” Chan stopped.

“You don’t have to apologize, it’s not a problem. You’re just nice.”

Chan smiled, “Thanks.”

Jihoon nodded, still clearly trying to wake up. It wasn’t long before another Air kingdom person came to their room, this time telling the group that breakfast would be ready soon and she would be escorting them to the great hall once they were ready. 

“What about our belongings?” Chan asked when no one else said anything.

She smiled in a deadpan sort of way, “Someone will be by to collect them before you leave.”

Within a few minutes, the group was following her to the great hall. Chan still felt weird about the castle. It was cold and the halls echoed their footsteps. This is the place Joshua grew up in? Chan couldn’t imagine spending every day here, the thought made him shudder.

The great hall was decorated like the throne room, but with gold banners as well as the sky blue ones. The tables were covered in sky blue cloth and a gold piece of fabric running down the middle of each. The dishes holding the food were all white and the plates and utensils were all gold. 

He leaned over to Jihoon, “Is this how every great hall looks?”

Jihoon shook his head, “No, they just like to show off.”

Chan nodded slowly, taking a seat at the table they had been directed to. The two princes came into the great hall after they did, but they sat at a different table; even their guards sat at a different table. It was hard to forget the distinctions between the groups when in a castle. Chan couldn’t wait to get back on the road where there wouldn’t be all this pressure.

Since all the others in the room were so silent while eating, no one at their table felt like talking either. There wasn’t much to say anyway, most of the things they needed to discuss had already been brought up the night before. Once breakfast had finished, the king called their group to the throne room. Chan had to hide his excitement, he had wanted to see it in the morning.

It was as impressive as he had expected. The colored glass gave the light a pink hue, and the window’s pattern looked like it was painted on the marble floor as well because of the light shining in. The other windows had been opened so the early morning breeze fluttered the banners, but it made the room colder. The king sat on his throne, and the queen next to him.

“As promised, you will be escorted by my guards to the Fire kingdom. We have prepared carriages for you, along with food for a midday meal. You should be back in the Fire kingdom before it’s dark as long as there are no major issues along the road. Before you leave, may I make one request?” The king spoke, his voice clear and it bounced around the room, “If asked, do not say who helped you after leaving the Earth kingdom. Say that you received medical attention from the water benders in this kingdom. Do not say you know where they are.”

Everyone nodded immediately. 

“Thank you. Now, the servants will see you out. Your belongings have already been taken to the carriages.” The king dismissed them.

**Seokmin**

He breathed in the familiar air of the Fire kingdom. The group hadn’t spent much time in this village, but he missed it as much as he missed his home. It was after breakfast by the time he stepped into the village, so it was already bustling. He asked for directions once, finding the shopkeeper he asked to be very polite; they even offered him a freshly baked roll for free. He declined, someone else who actually needed it should get it.

The walk to the guard’s station was short, which didn’t give him much time to think any more about his decision. He had made up his mind on the way over, but now he wondered if he should just turn back. Was it really a good idea to turn himself in and ruin the whole movement he started? Perhaps he was just being petty because Changkyun punched him in the face yesterday and he just needed some time to get over it. But he was already here, and if he didn’t confess, he was sure Chan would turn them in anyway.

He was surprised that he was able to simply walk into the guard’s station, he almost expected to be stopped as soon as he put one foot in. Most of the guards seemed preoccupied with other things, perhaps it was a shift change. Seokmin walked over to someone sitting at a desk.

“Excuse me?” He said, unable to find his voice for once.

The guard looked up, “Can I help you?”

“I need to talk to someone about-”

“You’ll have to wait for a bit, the watch is changing so things are hectic.” The guard said, confirming his earlier suspicions, “If it’s urgent, you can go to the station by the gate. They already changed.”

Seokmin nodded, he turned and left without even thanking the guard. He was more familiar with the station by the gate, having scoped it out on a few occasions with Changkyun and Hyungwon. The closer to the castle gates he got, the less crowded the streets became. There were guards outside of this station who watched Seokmin walk in.

A woman dressed in the typical Fire kingdom uniform stopped as she was about to walk by, “Can I help you?”

“I have to talk to someone about the Purple Lighting.” Seokmin said, his voice coming back to him finally.

Her face hardened, “You have information to report?”

He nodded.

“Okay, let me go get someone, please wait here.” She turned on her heels and walked deeper into the building.

Seokmin was suddenly aware of the amount of eyes that were on him. The woman came back a moment later with a large man, she whispered something to him before walking off again. The man came up to Seokmin, putting a hand on his shoulder to lead him to another room.

“Would you like something to drink before I start asking you about what you know?” The man asked.

Seokmin swallowed thickly but said no. As soon as he said anything, he knew there would be no point in him having a drink on the table. Seokmin sat and the man sat across from him.

“What information do you have for us?” The man asked, crossing his arms.

“How much do you want?” Seokmin asked, feeling oddly confident enough to play around for a moment.

The man arched his brow, “As much as you have.”

“Where should I start? Their exact locations? The names of the main members? Their plans?” Seokmin said.

The man gave him a suspicious look, “You know all of this?”

“Of course.”

“You a member or something?”

Seokmin suddenly smiled, “Even better.”

The man said nothing, he just waited for Seokmin to elaborate.

“I’m the leader.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, we're really getting to the end now! I have only planned for 2 more chapters (sad, isn't it) but it could turn into 3 if I decide to suddenly add something. I doubt that will happen, but let's see where my plan takes me! Thank you so much for making it this far, I hope you stick around for the ending and that it doesn't disappoint!! :D


	14. Ch.14

**Mingyu**

Wonwoo was sat next to him in the carriage, the group had once again been split up; the princes and their guards were together, and the rest in the other. Despite not officially being his guard any longer, Wonwoo was still put with Mingyu. They were holding hands, which they did at every opportunity now, Minghu usually being the one to grab Wonwoo’s hand. He felt less anxious this way.

Minghao and Seungcheol were sitting across from them, Minghao had his chin resting on his hand while looking out the window and Seungcheol had his eyes closed. No one spoke until they reached the Fire kingdom’s border, but even that was a single comment from Minghao. They were all preparing themselves for everything that was going to happen once they reached the castle. 

Not only would Mingyu have to explain why they all ran off to his father, but he also had to figure out how he would tell his parents about him and Wonwoo. There was a lot resting on what his father said about it, and Mingyu could only think of the worst options first. He really didn’t see it going well despite telling Wonwoo that it would be alright.

It was almost sundown by the time they made it to the castle, Mingyu squeezed Wonwoo’s hand tighter without thinking. The guard said nothing. As soon as they made it through the castle gates, there was a lot of commotion. The Fire kingdom guards were talking loudly with the Air kingdom guards; most of it about the rumors around their leaving.

The carriages stopped, the door was opened, and the princes left the carriages first. That was the first time all day that Mingyu stopped holding Wonwoo’s hand. Both of the kings were standing at the top of the steps, with the queens slightly behind them. The kings’ expressions didn’t change, but the queens looked relieved that their sons had come back in one piece. As the group ascended the steps, the Fire king turned to walk back into the castle; the Earth king followed soon after. Mingyu’s mother walked to the top step and waited for him there.

“Mom, I’m sorry-”

She shushed him as she pulled him into a hug, “Don’t apologize, I’m just glad you’re alright.” She paused, “And you’ve brought Wonwoo back with you?”

Mingyu stepped out of the hug, “Yes, we-”

She shook her head, “Your father wants to hear your explanation, so save it for him.”

“But I want to tell you something first, without him.” Mingyu said softly, glancing back at Wonwoo.

THe queen looked at Wonwoo too, “Later, you have to talk with him first.”

The group was led to the throne room, where both of the kings were sitting on thrones, waiting for them. There was an audience as well, it was completely made up of the families of everyone else who had come with them, aside from the families of Wonwoo, Seungcheol, Seungkwan, and Chan. The amount of eyes on them was intimidating, now was not the time to tell his parents about the relationship.

Mingyu’s father folded his hands in his lap as they waited for the queens to come sit beside their husband. The atmosphere was tense. There were a lot of answers, but the explanations may not provide them.

“Who’s idea was this?” Mingyu’s father started, his voice loud and barking.

“Mine,” Mingyu answered immediately, it was technically the truth.

“But all of us, aside from Chan and Wonwoo, helped plan it. It wasn’t just him.” Minghao spoke up.

“And how did you know where Jeon Wonwoo was being held captive? We did not have that information until recently.” Minghao’s father asked this time.

“We asked Chan to join the Purple Lighting to get that for us,” Minghao explained, “He’s not a part of the group, but he got in and was placed where he was being held. He sent us a letter about it and we met him there.”

The kings leaned towards each other and began whispering. It didn’t last long.

“We will need to ask this Chan some questions, I assume he is the stranger you brought with you. But first, you were attacked, yes? How did you get away? How did you get to the Air kingdom?” Mingyu’s father spoke quickly.

Mingyu paused, “How did you know we were attacked? We didn’t mention that.”

“There was a report, now, answer the questions.” His father said.

The group looked at each other, no one sure exactly where to start or what to say.

“Someone needs to answer the question!” King Kim said roughly, already growing impatient.

“We got surrounded, but were able to distract them. The way to the Air kingdom border was unguarded by them so we ran that way.” Mingyu explained, not sure if he should bring up the issue around Vernon and Seungkwan.

Both the kings sighed heavily, clearly not satisfied with the answers they were given but knowing they would have to accept them.

“Very well, it’s clear you don’t want to tell us. The important thing is that you all are safe, I will allow you all to return to your homes or rooms. Chan, you will go with General Chwe. He has some additional questions for you about your involvement with the Purple Lighting. After that, you will be escorted to a room where you will be staying until it is safe for you to return to your home.” Mingyu’s father stood as he spoke.

Mingyu looked back at Chan then back at his father, “He isn’t in any trouble is he? He only joined because we asked him to.”

Mingyu’s father held up a hand, “Rest assured, he is not in trouble. Someone has given us a lot of information, and we just need him to confirm things. You will be able to see him again in the morning.”

Mingyu let out a breath of relief, that was one less thing for him to worry about.

His father walked down the short flight of stairs to the throne, coming closer to Mingyu, “I would like to speak with you in my chambers.”

“I have to tell you and mother something as well.”

“Fine,” his father nodded, “Wonwoo may come as well, there are some matters I need to discuss with him as well.”

With that, his father walked by him. Mingyu turned to Wonwoo, who had apparently heard what the king had said. They nodded to each other before following.

**Soonyoung**

He made eye contact with his father after they were dismissed. His father looked disappointed, tired, but mostly angry. He debated if he should break the news now, or do it later, but Minghao turned to face Soonyoung, and he knew it was best to do it now.

“I’m telling my parents.” Soonyoung said without thinking.

Minghao looked worried, “We should do it together, with my parents there too.”

“I thought we agreed I would tell my parents by myself, and we would talk to yours later.”

Minghao shook his head, “I know, but I don’t want to wait now.”

“Fine.”

“Go get your parents and bring them to my father’s room.” Minghao lightly touched Soonyoung’s arm.

Soonyoung nodded, and went to his parents. His palms were sweating, and his stomach felt like it was tied in a knot. 

“We have to talk.” His father said firmly, his eyes narrow.

“Yes, but you have to come with me first. There is something Minghao and I need to talk with you both about, with the king and queen.” Soonyoung said back, his voice shaky but he managed to get it out nonetheless.

One of his father’s eyebrows shot up, “What is it about?”

“We’ll tell you when we get there.” Soonyoung turned and began walking. His parents followed.

King Xu’s door was open when they got there, and the royal family could be heard discussing small matters. Soonyoung knocked but was immediately told to come in. There was an empty seat beside Minghao, so Soonyoung took it. His parents sat in the two empty seats beside the king and queen. The queen nodded to Soonyoung, and he knew she was already on their side. It would be easier to convince the king as well with the queen’s approval, Soonyoung’s father, on the other hand, would be harder.

“What did you two want to say?” The king spoke first as he usually did.

“Soonyoung and I have been,” Minghao paused, trying to find the right words, “Seeing each other, romantically, for a year or so.”

Both the men in the room let out noises of surprise, but the women didn’t flinch. Soonyoung’s mother seemed to have been expecting it despite him being so careful not to make any hints about it to her.

“Were you both expecting us to just take this information calmly because you came home safely? Are you trying to lessen your of punishment for running off?” Soonyoung’s father said first, he was only looking at Soonyoung.

“We aren’t-” Soonyoung started but Minghao shushed him.

“We just wanted you all to know, and obviously aren’t expecting this to change your minds about punishment. It’s just right for you to know before our relationship progresses.” Minghao said calmly, he was better at explaining things.

“Progresses?” Minghao’s father said for the first time since they broke the news.

Minghao nodded, “We had discussed possibly getting married at some point in the future, but…”

“You need my blessing first, yes.” The king finished Minghao’s thought.

Soonyoung’s father crossed his arms and took a deep breath, he looked to the king. The king looked at his wife, and she simply nodded.

The king spoke without pause, “While most in the kingdom would not see the approval of this relationship as wise, I will speak from my own experience. I did not marry someone that my father directly approved of, so it would be hypocritical of me to try and stop you two.”

Soonyoung’s father sat up straight, unfolding his arms, “Your highness, are you sure you are okay with this? We can’t bring anything to the kingdom if they decide to marry.”

The king raised a hand, “That’s not important, what’s more important is that I can almost guarantee that this decision will keep these two here. You know what happened with prince Joshua and prince Jeonghan after king Yoon disapproved of that relationship.”

Soonyoung’s father sighed, but said nothing more. There was clearly something he wanted to say, but he wouldn’t say it in front of the king. Soonyoung would hear about it later though.

“Well, I will say I should not be as surprised at this news,” The king said suddenly, “After that issue with Soonyoung and Seungcheol, I suspected something.”

The queen winked at Soonyoung, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Very well, you may continue this relationship as you see fit.” The king stood, and Soonyoung stood on instinct. His parents stood a beat after. “Now, I must speak with my son, if you will excuse us.”

Soonyoung and his parents bid the royal family a good night before leaving. Soonyoung made eye contact with Minghao before he left as well, they nodded. Unless there was some reason he wouldn’t be able to, he knew he would be seeing Minghao again that night.

As soon as the doors to the king’s room shut, his father roughly grabbed Soonyoung’s arm. He pulled his son all the way to his son’s room, where he threw open the door and yanked him inside.

“I am not happy.” His father stated, letting go of Soonyoung’s arm, “And I have plenty of reasons not to be.”

“I’m sorry about running off, but it was our best chance to help Mingyu get Wonwoo back.” Soonyoung defended.

“You not only put yourself at risk, but also Minghao. If you really cared about him, I would think you would not have let him go along. He could have died.”

“But he didn’t!”

“He could have! And you could have as well!” His father raised his voice, and Soonyoung jumped at the volume, “We were planning on getting him back, it wasn’t up to a bunch of young adults to do it. But by some sheer, dumb luck, you all managed to get by relatively unscathed. Since you are an adult, and can make your own decisions, I will not be locking in your room like some fathers do, but if you leave the castle gates, I will know. I will see to it that you cannot go anywhere without someone knowing.”

Soonyoung nodded, “I understand.”

“Good. Now, about you and the prince.” His father rubbed the bridge of his nose, “I assume you understand why I am having reservations about the relationship, but if the king approves then who am I to disagree.”

Soonyoung chose to say nothing.

“You know, of course, that you now will have more eyes on you. Being with a member of the royal family means you will have to deal with guard presence, and you won’t be able to go out in public by yourself any longer. Have you thought any of this through?”

“No.”

“Then you are a young fool.”

“I don’t care about how many guards there will be, I’m around Minghao enough as it is, I’m used to Seungcheol being around. And-”

His father waved a hand, “Do not say that being with Minghao is enough, I don’t need to hear childish musings of first loves. With the way our kingdom is structured, you will be asked to choose a guard once you arrive back to the Earth kingdom, that is, if your relationship lasts that long.”

Soonyoung rolled his eyes, unsurprised that his father was already thinking about the relationship ending. “Fine, I’ll do what I have to do.”

His father sighed then shook his head, leaving the room without another word. Soonyoung let out a breath of relief, flopping onto a chair, his exhaustion finally catching up with him.

**Chan**

The Fire kingdom castle was as impressive to him as the Air kingdom, but in a different way. Whereas the Air castle felt cold and unwelcoming, the Fire castle was warmer and seemed more comfortable. The dark stone, matched with the oak colored floors didn’t let the sounds bounce around as much. Chan liked that he couldn’t hear his footsteps from all around him.

The only part he didn’t like was the walk to the prisons. This part was intimidating.. Since it was getting dark, the only lights illuminating the halls were from the various torches, the way the light bounced around gave it an odd feeling. The warden didn’t speak on the walk; Chan felt like he actually was in trouble.

They reached the room and the warden opened the door, allowing Chan to walk in first. It was only going to be the two of them. The warden grabbed a stack of papers and some writing equipment from another desk before sitting. He motioned for Chan to sit across from him at the table.

“You are Lee Chan, yes?” The question was asked before Chan fully sat in the chair.

He nodded, “Yes.”

The warden asked a few more questions about where Chan lived and what he did there. They were basic questions, and Chan wondered how the warden already knew so much. He wondered who had given the information.

“Why did you join the group?” The warden looked up from his papers, but hand poised over a blank page as if ready to write whatever was said.

“Prince Joshua brought me a letter from prince Minghao asking me to find out where Wonwoo was being held. The best way to do that was to join the Purple Lighting, I was only in the group to tell them the things they needed to know.” Chan answered, watching the warden write what he said.

“How were you able to gain the group’s trust so quickly?”

“I had met a member, and he invited me to drink with some of the others. They told me stories about what they went through in the Water kingdom, and I told them I felt sorry for them. Then I was invited to the meeting, volunteered, and asked what I could do to help. I’m not sure if that answers the question.”

“It suffices. Now, what was the name of the member you met and what was their position in the group?”

Chan swallowed, “The leader, Lee Seokmin, but I don’t think he’s a bad person. I think-”

“You’re concerned about him? Why?”

“I don’t think he would actually hurt anyone, I think he just wanted change. The other members, though, I think would hurt people.” 

“Why do you think he would not hurt someone?”

“He always said to just grab, or rather kidnap, people instead of directly calling for them to get seriously hurt or killed. The other, Changkyun, would push for that route. Seokmin seemed as nice as the leader of that group could have been.” Chan struggled to explain himself, he felt like he wasn’t actually helping Seokmin’s case.

“Would it surprise you to know,” the warden shifted some pages, “That Lee Seokmin was the one who gave us this information?”

Chan’s jaw dropped, “He did? Wh-why would he do that?”   
“Apparently, after your grand espace, he lost his position as the leader. He came to us.”

“Is he going to be okay? What have you done with him?” Chan felt his palms start to sweat and he started feeling hot. He was worried about Seokmin.

The warden shook his head as if he couldn’t understand, “We have worked out a sentence for him, because he was so willing to give up information, he was given a shorter amount of time in prison. Of course, since he was the leader of a group of people attacking benders, we could not simply release him.”

“But he’s okay?” Chan asked.

“Yes.”

“Can I see him? I want to talk to him.”

The warden shook his head again, “Not until the investigation is over and the others are arrested. I cannot guarantee when that will be.”

Chan nodded in understanding, he knew it would be a long shot but he still had to try. The warden had a few more questions that they worked through quickly. Once all the questions had been asked and answered, Chan was allowed to leave. There were guards waiting for him outside of the room, they would be taking him to a room in the Earth kingdom’s wing. He was informed that his room was next to Jihoon.

He considered knocking on the door, but figured Jihoon was still with his parents. So instead, he went to the room given to him. As soon as he walked in, he felt incredibly out of place. The room was the size of all three rooms in his own home, the bed much bigger than his, and there was a space large enough for an entire sitting area. Chan went to the bed first, jumping onto it and sinking into the plush mattress. It was much softer than his at home. 

He still missed home, and the comfort of it, but it would be nice to sleep somewhere else for a few days. He flipped onto his back and stared at the ceiling, not feeling tired but relaxed. Footsteps approached his room, but he didn’t sit up to check.

“Great! You’re here!” It was Soonyoung, he had peered in through the open door.

Chan sat up now, “Oh, do you need something?”

“I have an odd favor to ask.” Soonyoung came in and sat next to Chan on the bed, “How would you feel about becoming someone’s guard?”

“What?” Chan shook his head in disbelief.

“I’ll explain, just hear me out. Minghao and I told our parents about our relationship, and my dad told me that I would probably have to pick my own guard. I know you aren’t one yet, but you could be. You’re strong, you’d probably make it through the training quickly.” Soonyoung explained.

“I’m not a bender.”

“So?”

“I thought you had to be a bender to be a guard.” 

Soonyoung shook his head, “Well, it’s less common for a non-bender to be one, but it’s allowed.”

Chan paused, “Can I think about it first?”

Soonyoung nodded, “Of course, you can even talk to Seungcheol about it. I thought I would bring it up, that way you could be around us more often! I know we don’t know each other very well, but I like having you around.”

“Thanks,” Chan smiled, “I like it too, but only the parts when we weren’t being hunted.”

Soonyoung laughed loudly, “Yeah, I meant those parts too. But, also, even if you chose not to become my guard, I still want you to come around the castle more often. They’ll let you in. Or we can all come to you.”

“Sure, that would be nice.” Chan nodded.

Seungcheol appeared in the doorway, nodding to Soonyoung as if signaling something. Soonyoung hopped off the bed. Before leaving, he looked back at Chan, “Really think about it, okay? I trust you.”

**Vernon**

Since his father had gone to finish interviewing Chan, he knew the lecture was still to come. His mother, the whole way back to their house, talked about how worried she had been about the two of them but that she was just glad they had returned safely. Vernon held Seungkwan’s hand the whole time they walked back to the house. Seungkwan was limping slightly despite his wound having been healed, it was still sore. Jeonghan had mentioned the knife had gone deep, so he would do as best as he could but it would take some time to fully heal. He admitted he wasn’t as good of a healer as Seungkwan.

His mother allowed the two of them to be alone when they arrived home, so Vernon immediately took Seungkwan up to the other’s room. Seungkwan laid in his bed and started to massage the back of his leg, where the knife had been. Vernon sat next to him, leaning back on his hand.

“It hurts?” Vernon asked, feeling stupid for asking.

“Obviously,” Seungkwan responded simply.

“Can I do something to help?” 

Seungkwan rolled over onto his stomach, “You could help me massage it. My muscles are still tight from Jeonghan healing it.”

Vernon did as the other asked, trying to not press down too hard and hurt Seungkwan more. They sat silently while Vernon did his best to massage the back of Seungkwan’s thigh. It felt a little uncomfortable at first, but Vernon didn’t complain. He was just glad to be able to help somehow.

Eventually, Seungkwan moved to sit up onto his knees, making Vernon stop. They looked at each other, and the urge to kiss Seungkwan soon came over Vernon. He placed his hand on one side of Seungkwan’s face and pulled him closer. The kiss lingered for a moment longer.

“I’m sorry you got hurt because of me.” Vernon said softly, his lips brushing against Seungkwan’s as he spoke.

The other suddenly sniffled, “It wasn’t your fault.”

Vernon noticed a few tears fall down Seungkwan’s cheeks, he started to wipe them but that only made Seungkwan start to cry more. Seungkwan pulled Vernon’s hands from his cheeks, not worrying about his tears.

“I shouldn’t have done whatever it was that I did,” Seungkwan’s voice was thick, “It’s my fault I got hurt, please don’t blame yourself. What I did was stupid.”

Vernon shook his head, pulling his hands out of Seungkwan’s grip to place them back on the other’s face, “If you didn’t, they still might have killed me.”

“I don’t want to think about that.” Seungkwan said softly.

“And I don’t want to think about how you almost died.” Vernon pressed his forehead against Seungkwan’s.

“I would have been fine.” Seungkwan shook his head, trying to fight back more tears.

“No, Jeonghan told me that you lost so much blood that he was worried you would have died right on the table. I was so fucking scared seeing you like that.” He suddenly laughed, “We both almost lost each other.”

“I’m not going to let that happen again.”

“It won’t.”

“Because I won’t let it happen.”

Vernon smiled, kissing Seungkwan again.

**Mingyu**

“So, you are back.” Mingyu’s father looked directly at Wonwoo as he said it, “I hate to ask this of you now, but have you considered returning to your post? Of course, we will allow you as much time as needed for rest and recovery.”

Wonwoo glanced over at Mingyu before answering, “Yes, I would be grateful for that opportunity.”

“Excellent, we will make preparations for your return. I do expect you to keep in contact with either me or another guard about when you would like to resume your position.”

Wonwoo nodded, “Of course.”

Mingyu swallowed thickly, he worried that Wonwoo had decided against telling his parents.

“However,” Wonwoo started to say, Mingyu fidgeted nervously and his father’s face fell, “There are some things Mingyu and I need to discuss with you first.”

Mingyu’s father looked between the two of them, his expression cold, while a small smile touched his mother’s lips. If she was aware of what was to be said, she made no other movements to indicate it.

“What is this then?” The king asked as he sat down in a chair.

Mingyu cleared his throat, “The reason Wonwoo left in the first place is because of me.”

The king looked confused, “You said personal reasons? Did something happen between you two?”   
Mingyu’s face flushed, “I may have kissed him and told him I was interested in him. Romantically.”

His mother held back a smile while his father cleared his throat and shifted in his seat.

“And I left after that because I also had similar romantic feelings for him but I was sure that you would have approved of the relationship, your highness. I thought it would be seen as a sort of conflict of interest. However,” Wonwoo looked over at Mingyu before continuing, “Now, as the prince and I have discussed, we do share similar feelings and were hoping you would approve of our relationship. I still want to be able to do my duty as a guard, but with your blessing of course.”

The king didn’t respond for what felt like years. Each time he opened his mouth, he would make a grunting noise as he closed it again. The suspense made Mingyu’s knees feel weak.

“It is quite unorthodox.” The king said simply, “And while it is not illegal, it is also not something that would generally be allowed. I will need time to think about this, but I am not too concerned about any ‘conflict of interest’ as it may make you want to protect him more. I am, on the other hand, thinking about both of your status. The other kingdoms may see it as odd for a prince to be with his guard. Now, a lower ranking member of the family, it wouldn’t cause as many issues, but…” His father started to ramble under his breath.

The queen smiled warmly at the two, speaking over the muttered words of a king who was unsure of what else to say, “You’ll have to give him some time to think about this. Thank you two for speaking up about it, I will talk with him about this as well.” She winked at her son, “If there is nothing left to discuss, they may leave, yes?”

The king suddenly snapped back to attention, “Right, yes. You may leave, and I will think about what you said.”

Wonwoo bowed to the two before they left, Mingyu’s new guard was waiting for them outside of the room. Mingyu sighed, that went about as well as he expected. The prince and his former guard walked slowly, side by side. They hadn’t chosen a destination, but they soon found themselves standing outside Mingyu’s room.

“Would you like to come in?” Mingyu asked, opening the door.

Wonwoo nodded wordlessly, walking into the room first. Mingyu shut the door, keeping the new guard out. Wonwoo stood in the middle of the room while Mingyu went to sit on his bed.

“You know you can sit,” Mingyu said, nodding to the plenty of empty space on his bed.

Once again, Wonwoo moved without saying anything, but there was clearly something on his mind. It was written all over his face.

“What?” Mingyu asked quickly as Wonwoo sat down next to him.

“Hm?” Wonwoo barely looked up.

“You’re thinking about something, what is it?”

“I’m nervous. I keep thinking about what your parents will say, and I’m worried that we won’t like the result.”

Mingyu shook his head, putting a hand on Wonwoo’s arm, “Forget about that for right now.”   
Wonwoo snapped his head up, “It’s hard to do that.”

“I know.”

“You seem calm.”

“I’m not.”

Wonwoo arched an eyebrow, wordlessly asking Mingyu to go on.

“I’m nervous too, it’s hard not to be, but I don’t want to think about all the ways this could turn out badly. I only got you back almost two days ago, I just want to be in the moment for now.” Mingyu leaned towards Wonwoo more now.

The guard took the invitation, leaning in to kiss Mingyu. The kiss lingered for a moment before Wonwoo pulled away first. Mingyu grabbed the back of Wonwoo’s neck, pulling him back in for another. Without warning, Wonwoo pushed Mingyu back onto the bed. He hovered over the prince, kissing the prince’s neck lightly and repeatedly. Mingyu extinguished most of the light in the room with one swift wave of his hand, leaving only enough that he could still see Wonwoo’s face.

**Minghao**

Soonyoung was sleeping peacefully next to him in the morning, and Minghao knew there would be no rush for the other to leave the room that morning. Minghao rolled onto his side and started to play with the other’s hair, softly so as to not wake him up. It was getting to the point that they needed to wake up for breakfast, but Minghao wanted to stay like this for hours. There would be more opportunities like this from now on, but Minghao wanted to take them all in.

Soonyoung shifted from laying on his stomach to his back, but he was still sound asleep. He looked so peaceful as he lay there, his face was the most relaxed that it had been for days. Minghao felt himself falling in love with him all over again. One of Soonyoung’s hands poked out from under the blanket and Minghao grabbed it before laying back down next to him. He shut his eyes for another couple of minutes before they were woken up.

Seungcheol gave them their wakeup call from the other side of the door. Minghao had only fallen into a light sleep, and he was able to be awake faster than the other, who had either not heard the words or had chosen to ignore them. Minghao looked back down at the sleeping Soonyoung and couldn’t help but smile. It was clear that he was choosing to ignore the words. His brow had now scrunched, and his jaw looked clenched like he was trying to capture the last few remaining seconds of sleep before they slipped away.

“You have to get up,” Minghao whispered.

Soonyoung grunted in response, turning onto the side closest to Minghao. He reached his hands out and grabbed Minghao’s torso, he pushed his face into the prince’s hips. Minghao giggled, trying to pull Soonyoung’s hands off him but not in any serious attempt.

“Please,” Minghao laughed, “You are very cute, but we have to get up.”

“A few more minutes,” Soonyoung said, his voice muffled by Minghao’s body.

Minghao quickly thought of a way to get him up, “If you wake up right now, I’ll kiss you.”

Soonyoung shot up, his eyes still mostly shut. He crawled over Minghao to get out of the bed the hard way, standing by the side of the bed, waiting for his rewards like a puppy learning a new trick. Minghao swung his legs off the bed, and grabbed Soonyoung’s face, pulling it closer to him to place a light kiss on his lips.

Another knock on the door signaling Seungcheol’s second warning. The two quickly got ready and left the room. Since the other kingdoms had officially left, all the previous formalities were over. Minghao held Soonyoung’s hand as they walked to the great hall, where they would be able to sit with each other. The whole group would be allowed to share one table now.

Chan and Jihoon were already seated by the time they got there. It looked like Chan had been up for hours and Jihoon had only woken up minutes before, knowing them that was probably the case. Soonyoung sat next to Chan, and Minghao next to him. Seungcheol sat across from them, next to Jihoon. Vernon and Seungkwan were the next to come in, they sat on the same side as Jihoon and Seungcheol.

“Mingyu is late,” Minghao commented, looking towards the door.

“Same with Wonwoo.” Vernon added.

Minghao and Vernon gave each other knowing looks, which most of the rest of the table picked up on. Soonyoung, however, did not.

“Maybe Wonwoo went home and Mingyu went to get him,” Soonyoung said before taking a sip of water.

“Oh his head really is full of rocks, isn’t it?” Seungkwan joked, as the whole table looked at Soonyoung in disbelief.

Soonyoung put the cup down slowly, “What?”

“They probably spent the night together, you fucking moron.” Jihoon said, voice low.

“That wasn’t very nice,” Soonyoung pouted.

Minghao put his arm around Soonyoung’s waist, “Don’t worry about that, he’s not a morning person. But, I think he’s right.”

As the table speculated, the two mentioned walked into the great hall. Mingyu gave a small “hello” as he sat down, a shy smile on his face; Wonwoo sat next to him without a word, but he also looked a bit shy. Minghao looked under the table quickly to check before kicking Mingyu in the shin lightly. The other looked up at Minghao.

Minghao widened his eyes and nodded, and Mingyu nodded shortly. He didn’t need words to know what happened. “Did you talk to your parents last night?” Minghao now asked.

Mingyu’s smile dropped as he nodded, “Yeah, but they didn’t really say anything. They just said they have to think about things, did you tell yours?”

“I did, and mine are fine with it. His father, on the other hand,” Minghao nodded towards Soonyoung, “Was not as accepting.”

Soonyoung spoke up now, “After we left the king’s room, my dad pulled me to my room and started saying all these things about how we were being stupid and didn’t think any of it through. He said ‘you’ll have to choose a guard if your relationship even lasts that long,’” Soonyoung rolled his eyes, “If it’s lasted this long, I think we will be alright. But, anyway, I did ask Chan if he wanted to become a guard so he could be mine.”

The whole table looked at Chan, who had simply been eating and listening the whole time. As soon as all their eyes were on him, he froze. Chan gulped down what was in his mouth before he nodded.

“I’ve been thinking about it.” Chan said.

“You would be good at it,” Wonwoo spoke for the first time that morning.

Seungcheol agreed, “It’s just a big responsibility, and training could be hard, but I think you could do it. We can talk about it later, if you want.”

Chan nodded, “Sure, I was thinking about doing it, too. I figure I don’t want to work with my parents for my whole life, so why not?”

Soonyoung laughed loudly, hugging Chan quickly, “Please!”

Seungcheol held up his hand as he laughed, “Don’t force him! There are other qualified guards to choose from!”

As Soonyoung, Seungcheol, and Chan had their own conversation, Minghao looked back at Mingyu. The fire prince kept glancing up at Wonwoo and smiling each time he laughed. Minghao recognized the looks well, he knew it was exactly how he used to act around Soonyoung at the beginning of their relationship. He wanted to get Mingyu alone and ask him how he was feeling. That was still hard to do even with the other kingdoms gone, now it was more similar to the way things used to be when they would all be together for the entire day.

Breakfast wrapped up with loud conversation, and Minghao stood as soon as the group finished. He looked at Mingyu, “Can we talk?”

The table noticed and quieted down.

“Just us?” Mingyu asked, standing as well.

Minghao nodded, causing the group to start making some wild assumptions mixed with laughter. Seungcheol got up to follow them, and Wonwoo softly asked if he should come along. Mingyu refused it, saying he’d be back soon. The princes went to Mingyu’s room, where both guards stayed outside the room.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Mingyu asked, sitting in a chair.

Minghao sat across from him, “I want to know how you’re feeling, in general, about everything that’s going on. I feel like we haven’t actually talked about things in a long time.”

Mingyu shrugged, “There’s a lot going on.”

“Exactly.”

Mingyu sunk into his chair, a shy smile forming on his face, “Even though there’s a lot, I can’t stop thinking about Wonwoo.”

Minghao said nothing, only nodded.

“We spent the night together last night, and it was nice. I don’t care how my father responds, I want to be with Wonwoo.”

“I don’t think it’s going to end badly.”

“What did your father say about you and Soonyoung?”

Minghao paused, “Well, that’s a different situation.”

Mingyu’s smile faded, “Even so, I want to know what he said.”

“He said that most people wouldn’t approve but that he would be a hypocrite if he didn’t allow us to be together. Also, he said the approval would keep us in the kingdom instead of running away like Jeonghan and Joshua.” 

An odd look now appeared on Mingyu’s face, and Minghao immediately realized the other was forming some sort of plan.

“You can’t threaten your father by claiming you’d run away if he doesn’t approve!” Minghao sat up.

Mingyu looked slightly offended, “And why not? It would work!”

“Yeah, it might work but it wouldn’t actually mean he approves. And it could still completely backfire, too. He could just increase your guard watch if he thinks you’re serious.” Minghao reasoned.

Mingyu thought about what was said and nodded with a sigh, “You’re right.”

“You have to let him reach his conclusion on his own.”

“I know, but it’s taking too long.”

Minghao laughed slightly, “It’s been less than a day since you told him.”

“I know, I just want an answer now.” Mingyu said.

“Why do you want one so badly? You already decided that you want to be with Wonwoo regardless.”

Mingyu looked up, “Because Wonwoo wants one.”

“Does he?”

Mingyu nodded, “Yeah because he wants to keep being my guard, but also my partner, so the only way for it to work is if both are alright with my father.”

“I think he’d still try to be your partner even if your father says no. After last night, I don’t think he’s going to let your father’s disapproval stop him.”

Mingyu looked away and smiled, he looked lost in thought, “Last night was nice.”

Minghao groaned, “No, please don’t tell me about it!”

**_~5 days later~_ **

**Wonwoo**

He spent most of his nights in the castle, usually spending them with Mingyu, and everyday he would be asked by another guard how he was feeling. They wanted to know how his “recovery” was coming along, and every day he would say the same thing.

“Better than yesterday, but still getting there.”

He was, in fact, feeling better each day, but he could never feel comfortable giving them a fully honest answer until he heard back from the king. He didn’t want to start back up as a guard and then immediately be removed for some reason. Wonwoo knew Mingyu hadn’t heard anything from the king yet, they had been around each other most of the time. Except, this evening, Mingyu was off doing something with Minghao, and so Wonwoo decided to take some time for himself.

Wonwoo roamed the halls casually, with no destination in mind. During his time as a guard, it was hard to get these moments, so he wanted to take advantage of them. However, he was interrupted by a guard calling out to him. He was instructed to go to the king’s room. Wonwoo did not even think to ask what was going on, he just went.

The king was sitting in a chair, staring at the crackling fire in the fireplace as Wonwoo came in. Wonwoo cleared his throat, and the king pulled himself from his thoughts to look over.

“Ah, yes, Wonwoo, please come sit down,” The king gestured to the chair next to him.

He half expected for Mingyu to come in within seconds of him being there, but the door shut behind him as he crossed the room.

“I have been thinking,” The king said, tenting his fingers, “In fact, thinking quite a lot about what you and my son shared with me the other day, and I would like to speak with you about it.”

“Will your son be coming?” Wonwoo asked.

The king shook his head, “No, I wanted to speak with you privately.”

Wonwoo nodded, “Of course.”

“You understand that I am in a difficult position, I believe I made that clear when we spoke the other day. The relationship is not traditional. By that I mean, a member of the royal family being in a relationship with their guard is not traditional. That being said, and I am sure you will understand why, I also discussed with other members of my counsel about this. We have looked through our laws and found no such law forbidding such a relationship.”

Wonwoo sat calmly as he listed, he was waiting for the “but.”

The king placed his hands into his lap, “But, we had some issues with you maintaining your position as a guard, specifically we do not want a repeat of the most recent issue. Therefore, I must give you an ultimatum. If you wish to continue your relationship with my son, you will have to give up your claim as his personal guard. You may, however, become a trainer for new guards if you desire. If you want to remain his guard, you may not continue the relationship.”

Wonwoo nodded, “That sounds reasonable.”

The king smiled, “I know it is not ideal, and you may take all the time you need to decide.”

“No,” Wonwoo shook his head, “I know my choice.”

The king arched a brow, “Oh?”

“I hope my service to your son has been satisfactory, but I will be stepping down. I hope it is not inappropriate, your highness, but I love your son, and I don’t think it would be wise for me to stop the relationship now.” Wonwoo spoke flatly, his mind completely made up.

The king nodded, “I expected as much. You can decide later if you would like to take on training, but that is all I wanted to speak with you about.”

Wonwoo stood and bowed, “Thank you, your highness.”

“Yes, yes, You may talk with Mingyu about this as you wish.” The king looked back to the fire, a wordless signal for Wonwoo to take his leave.

As soon as he left, he went to where he knew Mingyu was. He didn’t care if Minghao was also there, he just needed to tell him. The two princes were in the courtyard, along with their entire group. Wonwoo tried to not draw too much attention to himself, but as soon as he walked in, Mingyu noticed him. The prince smiled brightly.

Wonwoo waved him over, they stood under the awning together, “I just spoke with your father.”

Mingyu’s expression changed, it was a mix of curiosity and worry, “What did he say?”

“He told me we could be together.”

“But?” Mingyu tried to contain his excitement.

“I can’t be your guard.”

Mingyu’s smile dropped, “Why not? You wanted to.”

“He said that he didn’t want to have another repeat of what just happened, so I had to choose between being with you or being a guard.” Wonwoo said, taking Mingyu’s hands in his.

“And you chose me?” Mingyu asked, a small, shy smile now forming on his face.

“Of course. After everything, it had to be you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for uploading so late in the day, I had to work during the time I normally post and I didn't even think i could get the chapter up today! With that, there is only one chapter left! I'm hoping to get it done by Friday, but I can't promise that with this week's work schedule. So I'm going for Saturday at the latest!  
> Also, next week I should have a more concrete idea of when I will be posting the first chapter of a new fic I'm working on! It's still Seventeen and mostly Soonyoung/Minghao focused, but it's a vampire fic! I'm excited to start really focusing on that one once this one is completely done!  
> Anyway, thanks so much for reading! ♥


	15. Ch. 15 - Final

_ In the two years following the arrests of the Purple Lighting leaders, each kingdom went through many changes. Despite the unpopular tactics used by the anti-bender group, many non-benders began to question their status in the kingdoms. In the Water kingdom, the push for equality was great. King Yoon was incredibly unwilling to bend to any of their requests, worried for even an ounce of his power to slip from his grip. When it seemed the fight was almost over, the non-benders seemed to be giving up, when the king fell ill. The healers in the kingdom tried their best, but they were unsuccessful in healing the king back to his normal self. Once he passed away, the throne was passed, in the absence of Jeonghan, to his younger sister. Finally, the non-benders had some hope for equality. The negotiations began immediately after her coronation, which Jeonghan secretly attended by blending into the crowd. _

_ The Air kingdom also saw an increase in a push for equality. Their progress was faster than in the Water kingdom, but still a slow process. King Hong was firm on many things but yielding on others. At the same time, he was pressured by others in the kingdom to select a new heir to the throne. Many officials believed prince Joshua would never return. However, once king Yoon died, king Hong began preparations for someone to arrive. He ordered the servants to fix up Joshua’s room, and make it so two people would be comfortable there. The king also told officials they should prepare for a wedding before they prepare for the king to step down. _

_ In the Fire kingdom, there was less need for mass unrest and protest. Before the non-benders in the kingdom could organize, the king announced he was going to make changes that would mirror that of the Earth kingdom. King Xu was very willing to send consultants to help with the changes. In the meantime, the prince and his former guard were learning to navigate a new relationship in the very public eye. Wonwoo, after a year, chose to become a trainer for new guards. The two spent most days away from each other, Wonwoo teaching and Mingyu preparing to become king after his father stepped down. _

_ The Earth kingdom had less push, most non-benders finding their treatment to be equal already. The king held more meetings with the citizens to see if changes could be made, but the kingdom’s focus was not on that at the moment. A certain individual had become the first non-bender to be someone’s personal guard. The someone he was guarding also happened to be in a relationship with the prince, and so the whole situation was interesting to watch from the outside.  _

_ In the meantime, Seokmin was in the second year of his 8 year prison sentence. Two of the kings and many other officials thought he should have a longer sentence, but both king Kim and king Xu pushed for it to be lighter. Without his help, getting all the information on the group would have taken much more time and possibly cost more lives. While in prison, Seokmin had few visitors, one such being Lee Chan. Despite initially not wanting to remain in contact with him, Seokmin eventually chose to talk whenever Chan would visit. It was not often, as Seokmin was in the Fire kingdom’s prison and Chan lived in the Earth kingdom, but they were enough that Seokmin didn’t feel as if he was going to have some sort of mental breakdown from the isolation. _

_ The Earth kingdom prince made a point to come visit the Fire kingdom often. There would be no real reason for it, aside from wanting to visit friends.  _

**Minghao**

He stepped out of his carriage and felt an odd sort of chill in the air. It didn't get cold often in the Fire kingdom, so he was unprepared. As he shivered slightly, Soonyoung stepped out as well, putting Minghao's cape over the prince's shoulders.

"Told you you would need it." Soonyoung said simply, pulling his own cape closer.

Minghao turned slightly and smiled, "I was hoping we wouldn't need it."

Seungcheol and Chan left the carriage and began to usher the two inside. It wasn't terribly cold, but it would be much warmer inside. Minghao took Soonyoung's hand, feeling the cold metal of the ring Soonyoung was wearing pressed against the inside of his fingers.

The ring used to be Minghao's, but he gave it to Soonyoung not too long ago. It was time, and they were ready. He wanted to tell Mingyu and the others face to face, although he was slightly disappointed that Jeonghan and Joshua would not be able to be with them as well.

They were greeted by Mingyu and Wonwoo as soon as they came in. It was a small surprise to see Wonwoo since they expected him to be teaching.

"Did you get removed from teaching already?" Seungcheol asked with a loud laugh, clapping Wonwoo on the shoulder.

"No, I took the day off," Wonwoo rubbed his shoulder, pretending to be hurt, "Mingyu told me you all were coming today, and he and I haven't had a day together for awhile."

"Did you do anything fun?" Minghao asked.

"We took a walk with Seungkwan and Vernon," Mingyu answered, "But we can talk about that later. We can go to the sitting room to talk, I'll have someone take your coats."

"Jihoon and Junhui should be arriving soon too." Minghao said, shrugging off his cloak.

"I'll have someone bring them there," Mingyu smiled, excited that Jihoon would be coming.

Minghao looked over and noticed Chan glancing off in another direction. The prince nudged Soonyoung and nodded towards the other.

Soonyoung understood without any words, "Chan, you can go if you want."

Without hesitation, Chan nodded, "Thanks, I'll come back and find you in a few hours." Chan ran off.

No one questioned it, they all knew where he was going.

"Vernon and Seungkwan are in the sitting room too, you said you wanted us all to be there?" Mingyu asked, already walking.

"Yeah," Minghao nodded as he took Soonyoung's hand again.

The group began catching up on the events from the past month, and it continued once they met up with Seungkwan and Vernon. Minghao asked Seungkwan how medic coordination had been going and he complained about it as he always did. Water benders simply did not want to move to the Fire kingdom.

Eventually, Jihoon and Junhui arrived. The non-Earth kingdom residents hadn't seen Junhui in a few months. He rarely came to visit the Fire kingdom, but he was often in the Earth kingdom. After a while, as the catching up settled, Mingyu looked to Minghao.

"So, you told me you have something to say?" Mingyu arched his brow.

Minghao swallowed nervously, "I do. Or rather, we" he gestured to Soonyoung, "have something to tell you all."

The Fire kingdom residents all leaned forward, while the Earth benders and Junhui watched their faces expectantly.

"We talked about it a lot with my father, and he has agreed to it. Soonyoung and I will be getting married." Minghao said, a small smile on his face.

The non-Earth benders gasped in excitement. No one was surprised, they all had been talking about when the news would come eventually, but they were still excited nonetheless. Soonyoung seemed just as excited as the rest, he broke into a huge grin at the words, shifting excitedly in his seat. 

"When?" Wonwoo asked.

"Hopefully in a little over a month, we have to announce it to the kingdom first, but the plans have already begun." Minghao answered.

"Are we invited?" Seungkwan asked now.

Minghao nodded, "Of course, why else would I have told you all privately first. I do want to invite Joshua and Jeonghan, but they’re still gone."

"Are you inviting their families?" Mingyu questioned.

"I have to." Minghao sighed.

Mingyu shrugged, "Well, I'm sure Joshua's father will pass the invitation on to his son. Maybe they will show up after all."

"Have any of you heard from them?" Junhui spoke up suddenly.

The group shook their heads, except for Seungkwan. Junhui looked to the water bender and they both nodded.

"Jeonghan only wrote to me once after his father died. He said they would come home soon, but that was almost a year ago." Seungkwan said, the mood immediately falling.

"Joshua writes a lot of words, but only occasionally. I think he'll come back for your wedding!" Junhui said, trying to lift the mood again.

The topic quickly went back to the wedding plans, of which Minghao had few ideas. Everyone began suggesting things for it at once.

**Chan**

The prison guards still couldn't quite understand why Chan wanted to visit Seokmin, but they wouldn't stop him. They had orders from the warden to allow the visits. They were to take Seokmin from his cell and into a visiting room. Chan always felt bad that Seokmin was chained so heavily, but he understood.

Chan waited in the room, listening for the familiar rattle of Seokmin's chains to signal that he was approaching. As he was led in, Chan noted that he seemed more tired than usual. 

"How are you doing?" Chan asked first once Seokmin was seated.

"Fine." Seokmin tried to smile, but his eyes were still tired, "It's just boring."

Chan nodded "At least you only have 6 years left."

"And then what? Where do I go?"

"I keep telling you, my parents would take you in and let you work in the shop until you get back on your feet."

"I don't want to intrude."

"They’re fine with it."

Seokmin only nodded, "Why are you here, anyway? At the Fire kingdom, I mean."

"Minghao and Soonyoung are getting married, they wanted to tell their friends."

"Good for them."

Chan nodded.

"For some reason I expected Mingyu and Wonwoo to get married first, with the way you talk about them." Seokmin added.

"I always thought Joshua and Jeonghan."

Seokmin chuckled, "Them too, I guess. Although, I used to want them to suffer so I can't say I wanted that to happen."

"I told you Jeonghan's sister is queen now, right? Would you go home?" Chan asked.

Seokmin sat silently for a moment, "Maybe. I haven't thought about that."

"So what do you think about these days?"

"Not much."

"So the same as always."

Seokmin shot him a quick glare, "Very funny. I'm being serious, though. I heard the rest of the trials are wrapping up soon, do you know anything else?"

Chan shook his head, "I only had to testify against Changkyun, Hyungwon, and Jooheon. They didn't ask me to come to the others."

"And mine.'

"Yeah, and yours."

Seokmin laughed, "Look at us, being friends even though you helped put me here."

Chan laughed lightly, "You did kind of put yourself here, I just helped with your lighter sentence."

"And now you're trying to get me a job with your family. I owe you."

"Not this again."

"I mean it."

Chan sighed, "Like I said every time, you don't owe me anything. Honestly, I got to where I am now because of you, so consider us even."

"A fucked up way of getting even, but I guess it works." Seokmin laughed again.

There was a knock on the door, their time was coming to an end.

"I can come back tomorrow, we will be here a few days." Chan said quickly as he stood.

Seokmin shrugged, "If you can't, it's fine. I know you've got more responsibility now."

The Fire kingdom guards walked in and hoisted Seokmin up. The two said a quick goodbye as they pulled Seokmin away.

**Junhui**

He walked aimlessly around the castle after dinner, leaving the entire group just so he could have a moment alone. It had been awhile since he had been here, but not much had changed. Eventually, he found himself on the way towards where the Earth prince would be staying.

"Junhui!" Jihoon called from behind him.

Junhui turned and smiled, "Oh, so you've found me."

"Asked someone where you went. Come on, everyone is asking where you are."

Junhui nodded and glanced back around at where he was standing, "You know, this is where we officially met for the first time."

Jihoon arched his brow, "You remember that much?"

"Yes," Junhui walked over to Jihoon, "I get lost easily, but I have a good memory. I also remember the tantrum-"

"Okay, okay, I get it."

Junhui laughed, taking Jihoon's hand. The two had taken things slow over the past two years, only recently having the conversation about what their relationship was. It was decided that they could call each other partners, but the relaxed nature of their relationship was how it would stay. It was exactly what Junhui wanted, and what Jihoon needed.

The group was back in the sitting room, and there was a fire crackling in the pit. The conversation was light, and didn't pause even as the two came in. This time, Chan was involved. Dinner was mainly spent catching up with him, and once he ran out of new things they had their typical, random conversations.

"Junhui, what have you been up to since we last saw you?" Soonyoung asked, he was leaning against Minghao.

Junhui shrugged, "Oh, not much. My parents have really begun training me to become a tailor as well, and I've been enjoying that."

"Oh yeah? Think you could make our wedding clothes then?" Soonyoung joked.

Junhui laughed uncomfortably, "No way! I am nowhere near ready to make clothes for royalty!"

"It was just a thought," Soonyoung laughed loudly, "But one day I will make you make something for me."

"Fine, and one day I will actually be good at it too."

After a moment's pause, Junhui looked over at Chan, "Oh, right, did you see Seokmin today?"

Chan startled to attention, "Yeah, I did."

"How's he doing?" Seungcheol asked.

"He looked more tired, but otherwise fine. Nothing new." Chan said.

"It's so odd how we've all been apart for a month or so but there is nothing much to catch up on." Junhui commented.

Mingyu shrugged, "I'm sure something will come up eventually."

Junhui had considered telling the group about him and Jihoon, but ended up not. He figured they all already assumed how it was going, and was also unsure how Jihoon would react to the comment. It would probably come up eventually, just not at the moment.

The group stayed in the sitting room for hours longer, chatting about this and that, never staying on the same topic for too long. It was only decided that they would break apart when they started to run out of firewood to keep the fire burning. Mingyu and Wonwoo went off in one direction, Seungkwan and Vernon in another, and the other four only walked with Junhui and Jihoon for a few more paces before turning into another hall. Junhui and Jihoon were alone again.

“We’re in different rooms, I think.” Jihoon commented.

“Yes, I think so.” Junhui added.

Jihoon nodded, “So who’s room are we staying in tonight?”

“We can go to yours.” 

Jihoon agreed, and they went to Jihoon’s room. It was the same room as from two years before, the same room where they had decided to end things the first time. This time, however, would not be as sad. In fact, no words were spoken once they came in. They were so tired from their journey that Junhui flopped into the bed without even thinking about changing first. He could change in the morning after a long rest. Jihoon changed before he went to the bed, laying down next to Junhui, but on his back.

“Goodnight.” Junhui muttered against the pillow.

“Goodnight, I love you.” Jihoon said nonchalantly.

Junhui, from his already half-asleep haze, turned his head to Jihoon. Neither of them had said it yet, and Junhui expected he would have said that first. “I love you too.”

**_~2 weeks later~_ **

**Joshua**

A letter had been left on the doorstep that morning, it was a thick envelope from his father. His father didn't write often, only when there was important news to share. The last letter announcing the death of Jeonghan's father and the date of his sister's coronation. Joshua took this letter inside and set it on the table, waiting to read it after breakfast.

Jeonghan came down from the loft, and sat at the table. He picked up the envelope, "What's this?"

Joshua turned slightly to sed what was being referred to, "Something from my father, you can open it if you want." Joshua turned back around and heard the crinkle of the paper.

Jeonghan said nothing for a moment, but made a surprised huffing noise, "We've been invited to a wedding."

"Who's?" Joshua started to dish out the breakfast he made.

"Minghao and Soonyoung."

Joshua paused, "Really?"

Jeonghan made a noise of agreement, "It's in a few weeks. I think we should go."

Joshua put the plates on the table, "Secretly or publically?"

"I think we should go back. My sister has been queen for almost half a year now, so things have settled. And I'm sure your father is beyond ready for us to come back." Jeonghan said.

"Okay, it's up to you. Although I'm sure he will be disappointed that our wedding won't be first." Joshua sat.

"Well, it will have to be soon because people will wonder why I won't take the throne."

"When should we go back?"

Jeonghan didn't answer for a moment, "Two days."

"Any reason why?"

"We've got to get ready for the wedding of course!"

After that conversation, and once breakfast was cleaned up, Joshua sat down to write a letter to his father. He told him they planned on returning home in two days, and to be ready. After their midday meal, he took the letter to the nearby village where he bought most of their food.

The old woman at the letter carrying place was very friendly, "We jus’ delivered one from the king to yer house this mornin'. Has he been keepin' you two updated about things?"

Joshua nodded, she didn't recognize him as the prince.

"Well good, if not  _ I  _ was gonna haf' to tell ya's about the Earth kingdom boy's getting married!"

Joshua smiled, "I'm glad you would."

"Now, if ya could just tell that ol' king to spend a lil bit more of his money on some of us out here in the outer villages, tha' would be real swell." She said, chuckling warmly.

"Well, I'll be seeing him in a few days so I'll be sure to tell him that!" Joshua laughed with her.

"Good, good! Will we be seein' ya again, or is this goodbye?"

"I'm sure we'll see you again in the future."

She laughed again, it was an old laugh, "Well now that's fine. You just tell that husband of yours we'll miss him, and we can't wait to see you two again!" She waved slowly as she turned back into the building.

Joshua waved back, and didn't think to correct her. It wasn't the first time she had called Jeonghan his husband, and he had told her he wasn't before. She never listened, she would just say "pah! Might as well be!" Eventually, she would be right but for now, she wasn’t. Joshua stopped by the shop that sold some desserts and bought a few things, he and Jeonghan would miss these once they went back to the Air kingdom’s castle. He had another pleasant conversation with the baker and then made his way back home. No one in the village could recognize him as the prince, but he completely understood why.

In the past three years they lived in their cottage, Joshua made a note that he would have to invest in the outer villages more, he was even planning it before the older woman at the letter center made comments about it. They weren’t terribly poor, but there were certainly things that could be improved. Joshua took this one village as an example of the rest, there should be enough money that it could be possible.

When he arrived back home, Jeonghan was sitting off to one side of the house, playing with some of the kittens of the barn cats. The grown cats never learned to trust either of the princes, but the kittens always came to their door and meowed for food or something to drink. 

“Should we take some of the kittens home with us?” Joshua asked, stepping onto the small doorstep.

Jeonghan was waving a reed of grass around for the kittens to chase, “Won’t they miss their mom?”

“Isn’t that how all people get their pet kittens? I think they’re old enough to live without her now.” Joshua said with a shrug.

“I want to take all of them.”

“We can’t take all of them.”

“Okay,” Jeonghan looked over the small group of kittens, “Then just two. One for you, and one for me.”

Joshua nodded, “Sure. I’ll deal with that later though, I want to start cleaning things up in the house.”

If everything went as planned, he and Jeonghan would be leaving early the day after tomorrow. He didn’t expect to pack everything to take back with them, but he at least wanted the house to be as clean as possible. Joshua started by cleaning the sitting area. He had learned how much he enjoyed cleaning while living in this house, and he knew he would miss it once returning home. The rest of the time before he began dinner was spent cleaning, but after dinner he stopped. 

Jeonghan and him sat in the now clean sitting room and read until reading under the dim candlelight strained their eyes. The next day, Jeonghan and Joshua both spent the whole time cleaning the rest of their small house as well as the small barn. There were a few things they needed to pack up, mostly just clothes and any decorations they had bought from the village. The house was still full, but without the pieces that made it feel like their own, it was empty.

Before dusk, Jeonghan ran from the house, coming back in a few moments later with two small kittens in each hand.

“I decided on both of ours yesterday. The brown one is mine, and the white one is yours.” Jeonghan handed Joshua the white kitten.

Joshua held the kitten up to his own face, and the kitten sniffed and rubbed its small face against Joshua’s nose.

“What should we name them?” Joshua asked, now cradling the kitten in his arms.

“I was thinking I would name mine Angel.” Jeonghan said, smiling widely.

Joshua nodded, “That’s a good one.”

“What about your’s?”

“How does Serenity sound?” Joshua asked.

Jeonghan nodded, “I like it.”

Joshua set his kitten down on the floor and watched it start to jump around and explore the inside of the house. Jeonghan did the same. He sat down on the couch, looking around at the house.

“I will miss it here.” Joshua said finally.

Jeonghan sat next to him, “Me too.”

“It was so quiet here, and I like not having anything to do that I didn’t want to.”

Jeonghan only nodded.

Joshua sighed, “I’m glad we came here.”

“Me too.”

After that, they sat together in silence until they fell asleep on the couch. They stayed there all night until there was a knock on the door. The kittens they had chosen had fallen asleep in each of their laps, and woke with soft “mews” at the noise. It was time to leave. 

Air kingdom guards walked into the home carefully and picked up anything either of the prince’s told them too. The only thing Joshua or Jeonghan carried with them were their respective kittens.

The ride home was not as long as he expected, and they arrived home around the time the midday meal would be served. Although, as they stepped out of the carriage at the doors to the castle, the king and queen were obviously not attending the meal. Joshua noted how much his parents had aged since he last saw them. One thing that had not changed was the way they smiled. They welcomed both prince's home warmly, treating Jeonghan like he was also their son. 

“You cut your hair,” The king commented to Jeonghan.

“Yeah, I got tired of brushing it everyday.” Jeonghan commented as he ran his fingers through his hair.

The king nodded, “It looks nice.”

“Thank you.”

After that, the king and queen took Joshua and Jeonghan to the great hall. Servants took the kittens, and Joshua asked that they be taken to his room, as well as given food and water. As they entered the great hall, everyone present stood and bowed. After not experiencing that for a few years, it was an odd experience. Joshua smiled awkwardly as he passed them all. Once the king sat, so did everyone else.

“So,” The king said after allowing the two a few moments of silence to eat, “I understand you have come back for the wedding. But now, there will be some questions about if Jeonghan would like to take his place on the Water kingdom throne.”

“I have no plans to take it.” Jeonghan said simply.

The king nodded, “You’ll be contacted by someone in the Water kingdom, I presume. Since you technically have more claim, you will have to publicly say you are giving it up for your sister.”

Jeonghan nodded, “Of course.”

“They may ask why.” The king added.

“Does marrying the prince of another kingdom count as a reason to give up the throne?” Jeonghan asked.

“Of course, if that is what you want.” The king nodded.

“Then that will be my reason.” Jeonghan looked at Joshua for a moment.

“Excellent,” the queen spoke up, “Do you have an idea of when you would marry?”

Both Joshua and Jeonghan shook their heads.

The king chuckled, “No matter, we can discuss those details after prince Minghao’s wedding. No one will expect you to have that worked out after only just returning. Now, after the meal is finished, I will have someone show you two to the room we have prepared for you both. After that, you are free to do as you wish. I have no official business for either of you today.”

**_~The Day of the Wedding~_ **

**Mingyu**

He felt stiff and uncomfortable in his official clothes. The last time he wore them was at king Yoon’s funeral. Most of the time, he was forced to wear them for events he did not want to attend, but this time he wanted to be at the event. He felt excited, happy, and almost jealous in some way. Of course, he knew there was no reason to be jealous. One day, he assumed, he would have a wedding as well. Mingyu hoped it would be with Wonwoo.

Once he was fully dressed, he waited for his partner to finish dressing in the same type of stiff and uncomfortable clothes. Wonwoo was still not used to having help with dressing, nor was he used to the clothes he was being put into. A lot had changed when they made their relationship public, moreso for Wonwoo.

Mingyu sat in a chair, watching as Wonwoo awkwardly thanked the people dressing him. As soon as they left, Wonwoo turned to face Mingyu, his arms stuck out from his sides.

“I hate this thing.” Wonwoo commented, putting his arms by his side, but he still stood uncomfortably.

“You only have to wear the jacket for the ceremony.” Mingyu stood and walked over to Wonwoo, then adjusted the other’s collar.

“That’s still too long.” Wonwoo complained.

Mingyu laughed, and took one of Wonwoo’s hands, leading him from the room. They went out to the Earth kingdom’s courtyard, where most people were gathering. Mingyu looked around for any familiar faces. He saw Junhui first, pulling Wonwoo over to the air bender. Jihoon was with him, as well as two others with their back towards him.

Junhui waved as Mingyu and Wonwoo arrived, causing the other two people they were with to finally turn. Mingyu stared in disbelief. He had heard rumors about Joshua and Jeonghan returning, but he refused to believe them. Yet, here they both were.

Mingyu immediately pulled them both in for a hug at the same time, “No one told us you were coming!”

“We wanted it to be a secret,” Joshua said, his voice strained because Mingyu was squeezing him tightly.

“And a surprise,” Jeonghan added, equally as strained as Joshua.

Mingyu let them go, “Well, it was a surprise. Did you at least know, Junhui?”

Junhui nodded, “Of course! Joshua’s father came by our shop to get clothes ordered for them. And, so, naturally, because I knew that means Jihoon knew too.”

Mingyu looked over at Jihoon, he looked very pleased with himself. “I’m good at keeping secrets.” Jihoon said firmly.

Wonwoo suddenly put his arm around Mingyu’s waist, “I think Minghao will be glad you two came.”

“We wanted to go see him before the ceremony, but we weren’t allowed to.” Joshua said.

“I’m sure  _ someone  _ has told him they saw the two missing princes by now.” Jihoon commented.

Mingyu glanced over as he saw two people pushing their way through the crowd towards them. Seungkwan seemed almost frustrated, but Vernon looked more amused than anything. Jeonghan turned to his old friend and smiled, but Seungkwan only glowered at the prince.

“Couldn’t even tell me you were coming, I had to hear it from everyone else!” Seungkwan whined.

Jeonghan laughed, pulling Seungkwan into a very reluctant hug, “I would have, but-”

“No, no, no, because you probably told Junhui you were back but you couldn’t tell me. I’m younger than he is!”

“But I’m more sensitive!” Junhui jumped in.

Seungkwan wanted to respond, but knew Junhui was right. He finally hugged Jeonghan back.

“Are you two back for good now?” Seungkwan asked.

“Yeah,” Jeonghan nodded, “There are a lot of things we have to do now, though. I have to fully give up my claim to the Water kingdom throne, Joshua has to start getting ready to take over his kingdom, and we have to plan a wedding.”

Mingyu reacted quickly, “Oh? Now you two are going to get married?”

“I thought you would have done that already.” Jihoon commented.

“It was part of the plan at first, but we ended up deciding to wait until we came home.” Joshua said.

Wonwoo looked around, “Speaking of weddings, we should probably go to our seats. Minghao’s parents are here now.”

Mingyu turned to see the Earth king and queen coming into the courtyard. They both smiled politely at everyone as they passed. Soonyoung’s parents were behind them, his mother looked happy but his father looked to be faking a smile. With everything Mingyu knew about Soonyoung’s father, he wasn’t surprised that was how he would be reacting. The princes took their seats by each other, Joshua on Mingyu’s left, and Wonwoo to his right. The other four they had been speaking with had to sit somewhere else.

The ceremony began not too long after. As soon as both Minghao and Soonyoung were standing in front of the crowd, Mingyu started to feel tears come to his eyes. He couldn’t understand why he felt like crying, even if it was because he felt happy. That wasn’t his usual type of reaction. Wonwoo, without even looking over, grabbed Mingyu’s hand and squeezed it tightly. 

Mingyu looked over, and saw that Wonwoo was not even close to tears like Mingyu was. He almost felt embarrassed, although he knew he wouldn’t be the only one crying. He assumed he was crying because he was watching his best friend get married. It would be seen as a normal reaction.

The ceremony didn’t last too long, it was the reception after that would go on for hours. As soon as he could, Wonwoo shrugged off his jacket, tucking it under his arm. Mingyu laughed. An Earth kingdom guard approached them.

“Before the festivities begin, the prince wanted me to collect you and bring you to him.” The guard said.

“All of us?” Mingyu asked, gesturing to Joshua and Jeonghan.

The guard paused, “I’m sure that will be alright.”

The other four were also invited before they walked into the castle. 

“You both made it!” Minghao’s voice rang out clearly before anyone’s eyes adjusted to the darkness of the castle. Even without seeing who he was talking to, everyone knew he was addressing Jeonghan and Joshua.

“Of course! Couldn’t miss your big day, now could we?” Jeonghan laughed, going to Minghao and hugging him. 

Seungcheol and Chan were also standing close by, their uniforms looking much more ornate than their typical trousers and tops. It was the prince’s wedding after all, so of course everyone would have to be dressed up.

“You two are next then, huh?” Soonyoung asked with a laugh, pointing to Jeonghan and Joshua as he took Minghao’s hand.

“Sure, but what about the rest of you then?” Joshua turned to look at everyone else.

“Give us a break!” Seungkwan shouted, “You all have been in a relationship for much longer than the rest of us, pester Seungcheol first.”

Joshua turned to Seungcheol, but the guard put his hands up, “Don’t look at me, I don’t want to get married.”

Joshua nodded slowly, “I guess we should take bets on who’s next. I think it’s going to be Seungkwan and Vernon.”

Jeonghan, Minghao, and Soonyoung all agreed.

“It’s no fun when everyone agrees,” Jeonghan sighed, “Someone choose Jihoon and Junhui, and someone else pick Mingyu and Wonwoo.”

The four mentioned all felt at a loss for words.

“I don’t think anyone wants to bet on Jihoon and Junhui, I can’t see them getting married in general, let alone to each other!” Soonyoung jumped in.

“So, pick Mingyu and Wonwoo!” Jeonghan countered.

“Fine!” Soonyoung gave in easily, he looked at Mingyu, “You better not let me down!”

Mingyu didn’t know what to say, he looked at Wonwoo for an answer.

“Soonyoung, if and when we decide to get married, you’ll be the first to know.” Wonwoo said quickly. 

~!!~

_ After the excitement from the wedding died off a week later, things went relatively back to normal. Minghao and Soonyoung were able to take the honeymoon they had talked about, it was just the two of them alone for a month. They came back and immediately wanted to go back, it was the same feeling Joshua and Jeonghan had when they first came back to their royal lives. _

_ Jeonghan was asked to publicly give up his title, for which he reluctantly returned to the Water kingdom to do so. His sister, despite being glad her brother was allowing her to remain queen, was angry that he did not write to her for two years. He promised he would visit her often, he did intend to keep that promise. _

_ As soon as everything was settled on that end, Joshua’s mother immediately began to plan the wedding. It happened 6 months later. Minghao and Mingyu were present, along with Soonyoung and Wonwoo. Once again, Mingyu and Wonwoo were pestered by Soonyoung to hurry up and get married. _

_ However, he would be disappointed by the prince. Vernon and Seungkwan chose to get married a year after Joshua and Jeonghan’s wedding. Seungkwan had become the main healer in the Fire kingdom, and Vernon chose to not immediately find a job. They moved out of Vernon’s family home, but they still lived close.  _

_ After two years, Joshua’s father stepped down as king, feeling confident that it was time for his son to take over. The stress from the post-Purple Lighting discussions was significantly weighing on him, so instead of waiting until his death as most kings did, he left to live his remaining years in the small cottage that Joshua and Jeonghan had once lived in. The king kept far more contact with his son than before. He did notice that, as time went on, the small village near the cottage had become more vibrant and lively. Joshua kept his promise to them. _

_ Wonwoo brought up the idea of marriage first, a month after Joshua’s coronation. Mingyu said he wanted to think about it, they had fallen back into their usual pattern of rarely seeing each other. Of course, Mingyu wanted to get married, it was all he had wanted for years, but it hardly seemed like the right time. Until, however, Wonwoo chose to leave his position as a trainer of new guards and took a new position in the castle. This new position was offered to him by the king, and it was under the prison warden. Wonwoo would be coordinating transfers of any prisoners, as well as their release.  _

_ Then, Mingyu decided it would be time to get married. Upon his father’s request, the marriage was held off for another year. All of their friends could hardly wait for it, not understanding why it was held off so long. Soonyoung joked that he would not be attending because Mingyu had “let him down,” but he, of course, was still in attendance.  _

_ After the wedding, Chan visited Seokmin the prison once again. Everything was set for his release in the next two years, he would move in with Chan’s parents and work for them. Surprisingly, one year later, he was released due to “good behavior.” Seokmin showed up, practically unanticipated, at Chan’s family’s home where he was welcomed in without question. No one even commented on how he used to be part of a terrorist organization. _

_ Chan was not able to stop by the shop every day, so Jihoon would do it instead, just to check up on how things were going. Those visits did decrease as the months went by, Seokmin was working well. Adding to why he could not stop by as often, Jihoon was considering moving to the Air kingdom, per the invitation of Junhui. The air bender was in the process of taking over his parent’s shop, and wanted to see Jihoon more often. The deal was being sweetened by the possibility that Jihoon could study music with some of the kingdom’s musicians.  _

_ While the group had their own responsibilities, they still made time to visit each other. They didn’t often have the ability to all come together at once, but they still made a point to at least see some. So, it ends where it begins; four kingdoms, ruled by the four elements, living in harmony. _

  
  


**_End._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's really the end, huh? I really hope you all enjoyed it till the very end! I really appreciated everyone who read this far, it means so much to me! Thank you all so much again!!♥  
> Also, at the end of the last chapter, I mentioned that I am starting a new fic soon! It'll be mainly Soonyoung/Minghao, but with some other pairings I think you all might enjoy (and it's a vampire fic) :) Hopefully, I'll have the first chapter up by Nov. 1st (I can't promise any earlier because of my work schedule). If you wanna keep updated on when I start posting, I'll make posts on my kpop tumblr (revelsvelvet) and my kpop insta (reveluvsvelvet). I'm super active on my twitter (baybehbrenton), if you want to follow me there for other things!  
> Once again, I appreciate you all and thank you all again for liking this fic!!♥


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